This is a food prep knife designed for users who value excellent sharpness and edge retention and who can tolerate the reactivity of the blade as they are prone to discolor food they come in contact with. They are best honed with leather strops and sharpened on high-grit waterstones.
The blades are hand-forged Damascus-clad Aogami Super (Blue Super) steel, which offers exceptional edge retention but must be kept dry.
The handles are octagonal paple with colored pakka ferrule and base
H & K’s house brand is called Hatsukoro. The brand is supplied by a handful of manufacturers from different notable knifemaking regions such as Seki and Tosa. Our first import shipment from H & K included the Shinkiro line. Shinkiro translates to “mirage”, and this line is stunning. Hand-forged damascus-clad Aogami Super steel at its finest. Our first batch was mated to multi-color pakka and maple octagonal handles. These blades are made specifically for H & K by a blacksmith named Takahiro Nihei in Fukushima. The tsuchime pattern in the damascus cladding is indicative of the expertise of the blacksmith. Nihei also makes knives for the wholesaler Konosuke Knives, and is highly regarded.
Kitchen knives are used to cut the ingredients in your food. Japanese kitchen knives are famous for their sharpness and edge retention. Japanese chef knives are brittle and are designed for cutting soft tissue foods. High Carbon steel chef knives can rust if not kept dry.
