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4th generation blacksmith Katsuto Tanaka is the principal blacksmith at Tanaka Kama Kogyo, a famed shop in the town of Matsubara in the city of Omura, Nagasaki Prefecture. They have their origins in a blacksmithing tradition that came to the town with refugees from the Battle of Dannoura, over 800 years ago. The same age-old techniques are being used today in the production of knives and tools bearing this historic name.
The nakiri featured here is constructed from Aogami 2 carbon steel. The alloy is known for its outstanding edge life and toughness. The core steel is covered san-mai style with soft stainless steel which is given a lovely nashiji (pear skin) finish. This adds strength, reduces mass, and makes maintenance so much easier.
The growing popularity of nakiri knives in the West is a testament to their outstanding abilities and great looks. They are the ultimate vegetable cutters. Boasting a very flat profile and tall blade height, they are perfect for push cutting and chopping. This is a fairly middle-of-the-road blade in terms of size and weight so it should please most users.
Mated to a nice walnut octagonal handle, this is a knife to both use and admire.Blacksmith: Tanaka San
Location: Omura, Nagasaki Prefecture.
Construction: San Mai, Hammer Forged
Steel: Blue #2
Weight: 6.5 ounces / 184g
Blade Length: 165 mm
Total Length: 315 mm
Spine Thickness at Base: 3.6 mm
Blade Height: 55mm
HRC: 62
Handle: Walnut Octagonal
Please note, Mr. Tanaka puts a notch in the tang and this is done on purpose and is not an installation mistake.
The nakiri featured here is constructed from Aogami 2 carbon steel. The alloy is known for its outstanding edge life and toughness. The core steel is covered san-mai style with soft stainless steel which is given a lovely nashiji (pear skin) finish. This adds strength, reduces mass, and makes maintenance so much easier.
The growing popularity of nakiri knives in the West is a testament to their outstanding abilities and great looks. They are the ultimate vegetable cutters. Boasting a very flat profile and tall blade height, they are perfect for push cutting and chopping. This is a fairly middle-of-the-road blade in terms of size and weight so it should please most users.
Mated to a nice walnut octagonal handle, this is a knife to both use and admire.
Reviews
1 review(s) WRITE A REVIEW (Reviews are subject to approval) A joy to usePosted By: Christopher Willett - verified customer
2 people found this review helpful
I've been using this knife for about four months in a home environment (feeding 5) and have really enjoyed it. This nakiri feels thin at the edge and I can now cut more precisely that was possible with the German knives I had used previously. Paper this onion, tomato, etc, are very easy to produce. Brunoise is simple. The geometry of the blade is excellent. The tip is slightly rounded allowing for easy tip draw strokes on the board in addition to chopping and push/pull cutting. The height of the blade is about standard for a nakiri, but I wish it was a bit taller to help with scooping.The aesthetics of the bladeare fantastic and it is a handsome addition to our kitchen. The nashiji finish is quite well done and the cladding line shows off the core steel nicely. The handle isn't especially nice, however. Sanding and sealing didn't help much and now it feels sticky. I'll try re-sanding with coarser sand paper to try to improve grit. The spine of the blade had a noticeable ding in it near the handle junction and I'm unsure if this was a manufacturing defect or something done intentionally (a wabi sabi thing). The geometry of the blade (flat, tall) makes sharpening very easy. The edge was top notch out of the box. I managed to put some microchips in the blade within the first few weeks as I was getting used to it, but these came out quickly and without much effort on a Rika 5k. I now maintain the edge with a Kitayama 8k stone and a strop, spending about 5 minutes on the weekend to maintain the edge. The blade is extremely sharp now and blows through vegetables. I use the Matsubara nakiri on a daily basis and very heavily on the weekend (food prep for the week). We eat meat, but vegetables form the majority of our diet and as such the knife gets a work out (at least for a home cook knife). I would absolutely buy the knife again, though if I had the opportunity to add another 10-20 mm on to the height and put on a more textured, nicer handle I would certainly do so.
2 people found this review helpful
I've been using this knife for about four months in a home environment (feeding 5) and have really enjoyed it. This nakiri feels thin at the edge and I can now cut more precisely that was possible with the German knives I had used previously. Paper this onion, tomato, etc, are very easy to produce. Brunoise is simple. The geometry of the blade is excellent. The tip is slightly rounded allowing for easy tip draw strokes on the board in addition to chopping and push/pull cutting. The height of the blade is about standard for a nakiri, but I wish it was a bit taller to help with scooping.The aesthetics of the bladeare fantastic and it is a handsome addition to our kitchen. The nashiji finish is quite well done and the cladding line shows off the core steel nicely. The handle isn't especially nice, however. Sanding and sealing didn't help much and now it feels sticky. I'll try re-sanding with coarser sand paper to try to improve grit. The spine of the blade had a noticeable ding in it near the handle junction and I'm unsure if this was a manufacturing defect or something done intentionally (a wabi sabi thing). The geometry of the blade (flat, tall) makes sharpening very easy. The edge was top notch out of the box. I managed to put some microchips in the blade within the first few weeks as I was getting used to it, but these came out quickly and without much effort on a Rika 5k. I now maintain the edge with a Kitayama 8k stone and a strop, spending about 5 minutes on the weekend to maintain the edge. The blade is extremely sharp now and blows through vegetables. I use the Matsubara nakiri on a daily basis and very heavily on the weekend (food prep for the week). We eat meat, but vegetables form the majority of our diet and as such the knife gets a work out (at least for a home cook knife). I would absolutely buy the knife again, though if I had the opportunity to add another 10-20 mm on to the height and put on a more textured, nicer handle I would certainly do so.
