Hitohira Tanaka Kyuzo 270mm Sujihiki Aogami 1 Kurouchi Yakusugi Cedar

Hand made in Sakai, rustic kurouchi finished iron clad aogami 1 forged by dentoukougeishi master smith Yoshikazu Tanaka and expertly ground by Kyuzo, a sharpener that is very well regarded for his wide double bevel work. Tanaka-san’s treatment of aogami is very highly regarded, he manages to incorporate both toughness, ease of sharpening with excellent edge formation with long edge life. We have been fans of Tanaka-san’s for a long time and are very happy to find this collaboration with Hitohira and Kyuzo. 

The cedar and horn handle with the kurouchi finish give these a great rustic Japanese country feel. 

Tanaka uses charcoal to quench when treating the knife, which does not produce a Kurouchi dark finish. So in order to produce the finish, which is both aesthetically pleasing and useful in protecting against rust, sharpener uses a special and secret technique that has been used in Sakai for a long time and etches the surface of the knife.
This way of finishing creates the dark and beautiful Kurouchi finish found on this special line. While both types of Kurouchi finishes can fade over time, the etching technique used by sharpener may fade faster.