Sakai Kikumori Nakagawa 210mm Gyuto Stainless Clad Shirogami 1 Keyaki with Saya

This line was developed by Bernal Cutlery in collaboration with Sakai Kikumori and Nakagawa Hamono, and is exclusive to the three of us. At Sakai Kikumori’s invitation, we selected Nakagawa-san to forge the blades in stainless-clad shirogami 1, drew up the dimensions and geometry to our own specifications, and chose the handle.

Hand forged by Nakagawa Hamono with a stainless-clad shirogami 1 carbon steel core and a migaki finish, fitted with an octagonal keyaki (zelkova) handle and pakka wood ferrule. This is an ideal work knife, with wide-beveled migaki grinding done with superb geometry in mind.

Shirogami is rated 1-3, 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. In Nakagawa-san’s hands, this shirogami 1 is given better toughness, which offsets its more brittle nature. It’s a true sharpener’s steel and a real pleasure to sharpen, with a longer lived edge than his shirogami 2. It performs well at very fine finishes and is a blank slate for a huge variety of finishing stones, especially natural stones.

Satoshi Nakagawa trained for many years under Kenichi Shiraki, one of Sakai's great blacksmiths. When Shiraki-san retired, the workshop passed to Nakagawa-san and Shiraki Hamono became Nakagawa Hamono. He continues the craft he learned under Shiraki-san while forging in his own right as one of Sakai's leading smiths.

Nakagawa-san’s smithing is characterized by excellent heat control during forging and a very thorough heat treatment. The result is knives with remarkable edge formation and edge retention while remaining tough. His carbon steels are easy to sharpen across most steel types.

Sakai Kikumori was started in 1926 and draws on Sakai’s 600 year history as the major center of traditional Japanese cutlery manufacturing. They work with a large variety of Sakai's best smiths, sharpeners and small factories to offer a wide variety of knives ranging from traditional to modern.

These knives come from the maker with lacquer on the blade for corrosion protection during shipping. It can be removed using acetone or lacquer thinner (follow the manufacturer’s instructions for use).