Kawamura Sakimaru-Gyuto Aogami #2 Damascus 220mm (8.7″) [ebony]

Kawamura Sakimaru-Gyuto represents the ultimate craftsmanship of Japanese knives. It originates from one of the most famous knife centres in Japan, the city of Sakai, and is hand-crafted by the artisans of the Sakai Kikumori smithy. The distinctive Sakimaru tip is a tad rounder than usual, resulting in a smoother look. The blade’s finish is a beautiful damascus pattern that flows over the kireha — and stretches almost all the way down to the cutting edge.

Knife obsession is a very real thing. It’s a good kind of obsession. The kind that results in ideas popping up when you’re brewing your first morning coffee and that motivates you to keep discovering, to keep widening your horizons. It was one of these idle moments when an idea popped into Luka’s* head. Single bevel knives. The specificity of their tasks is what scares a lot of users from using single bevel knives, believing they are too advanced for them. This kind of geometry enables a half-size, much sharper angle, and consequently higher sharpness of the knife, which cuts more cleanly than double bevel knives. The main advantage in terms of function is that the blade pushes the slice of food that is being cut off away from the blade, causing it to fall away from the knife. The flat edge on the opposite side (uraoshi side) has a slight concave grind to it, which breaks the surface tension between the knife and the food. This allows the flat side of the knife to glide against the food with much less resistance. * Luka is the founder of SharpEdge. Get to know the team by clicking this link.

While this knife may not be the star player of the food prep team, it is however the perfect love-child of the single-bevel knife shapes. Its wide profile, similar to that of an usuba or a deba, gives it all the makings of a chef’s go-to knife for precise and complex techniques, like the julienne or the Japanese katsuramuki. Despite the age-old saying, (in the kitchen) size does in fact matter, and the knives listed above usually lack it. This is where the lengthy gyuto really shines – the 220 mm blade is perfect for longer, precise pulling motions used when slicing meat and filleting fish too.

To sum up: by joining a universal shape with a single bevel grind (giving the knife the width of a gyuto, with all the perks of a chisel ground knife) we managed to get the best of both worlds.

This blade is exclusive to SharpEdge and was created in collaboration with Sakai Kikumori.

BLADE SHAPE:
This gyuto differs from others of its kind by two very distinct characteristics. The first one is the grind, and the second is the blade’s unusual shape. The spine is straight and the belly tapers in a continuous curve, until making a sharp turn right before the point. This is where the name sakimaru comes from, it refers to tanto tip.

The single bevel blade is suitable 🚨 for right-handed users only!

STEEL:
The blade was forged by master blacksmith Nakagawa-san. Its construction is called ni-mai. The hard core is made out of Aogami #2 (we recommend oiling the blade regularly – see Knife maintenance). The jigane consists of several layers of steel, forming a raindrop Damascus pattern (for more, read Blade construction: Blade Finish).

The front surface of the blade is adorned with a hand-chiseled kanji, while the uraoshi side bears the mark of the core steel and a wavy line denoting the border between the hagane and jigane. This cladding line can only be done by an experienced blacksmith.

→ Read our articles Blade construction: Geometry and Blade construction: Lamination.

HANDLE:
The blade is fitted with an octagonal traditional Japanese handle, made out of ebony and a buffalo horn ferrule. The combination was carefully chosen – the difference in colors is very subtle, resulting in an elegant look.

ABOUT THE BLACKSMITH:
Sakai Kikumori has been producing kitchen knives with skilled craftsmen since 1925. The chef’s culture has been supported by the creation of traditional knives in Sakai, a town known as the home of kitchen cutlery in Japan. Kikumori smithy is considered one of the best knife makers in the region.