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Home | Japanese Kitchen Knives | Yoshikazu Tanaka 180mm Santoku Shirogami 1 Damascus Ebony

Yoshikazu Tanaka 180mm Santoku Shirogami 1 Damascus Ebony

$730.71
$730.71
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Tanaka-san’s top level forging and heat treatments make for an unusual ease of sharpening and superb edge life and toughness. Shirogami 1 is the highest carbon content of the shirogami steels.

Shirogami alloys are rated at numbers 3,2,&1 increasing in carbon content as the number gets smaller, typically shirogami 3 is tough with a shorter edge life than shirogami 2 and shirogami 1 has the best edge life with the least toughness. However in the hands of Tanaka-san shirogami 1 is given better toughness which offsets its more brittle nature. The result is a steel that works very well at very fine finishes. This is definitely a sharpener's steel, it is a real pleasure to sharpen Tanaka-san's shirogami, it is a true blank slate, great for a huge variety of finishing stones, especially natural stones. 

These knives are not stainless and care must be taken to avoid active rust, a dark patina is to be expected with use. No soaking or dishwasher. 

Smith: Yoshikazu Tanaka
Producing Area: Sakai, Japan
Profile: Santoku
Size: 180mm
Steel Type: Iron Clad Carbon
Steel: Shirogami 1
Handle: Ebony with Horn Ferrule
Total Length: 315mm
Handle Length: 129mm
Handle to Tip Length: 186mm
Blade Height: 47mm
Edge Length: 174mm
Thickness: 3mm
Weight: 184g
Hand Orientation: Ambidextrous

This is a carbon steel knife. Carbon steel is expected to develop a dark patina with use. It needs to be hand washed and dried immediately after use. Do not air dry. Do not put it in the dishwasher. Long exposure to moisture and debris will result in rust. Any rust development should be removed with a light abrasive.

Twisting, scraping, and heavy use, as well as use on hard and very dense objects can lead to edge damage. Use on a quality wooden cutting board will help the knife stay sharper for longer. Use on hard surfaces like plates and bamboo will reduce the edge life and can result in edge damage. Special attention needs to be taken to prevent edge damage. Scraping, twisting and forceful as well as using on hard or very dense foods can result in chipping.

We recommend hand sharpening on whetstones. We have found that most Japanese knives perform best at a finer finish starting around 4000. Avoid pull through sharpeners and non-water cooled mechanized sharpening. Ceramic honing rods are preferred.

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