Nigara Kiritsuke-Gyuto SG2 Tsuchime Wa 210mm (8.3″)

Nigara Kiritsuke-Gyuto SG2 Tsuchime Wa 210mm is a multi-purpose Japanese kitchen knife, suitable for preparing meat, fish and vegetables. The Kiritsuke-Gyuto knife possesses exceptional character and significance, setting it apart in any culinary setting. The name kiritsuke refers to the tanto tip, which is, besides looking awesome, also an homage to the katana. 

Its core is made of SG2 powder steel, ensuring long-lasting sharpness while requiring minimal maintenance. The steel’s excellent corrosion resistance makes it a reliable choice for kitchen use. The convex grind geometry of the blade, combined with the unique hammer strokes, ensures that ingredients do not stick to the blade during cutting, allowing for faster and more precise work.

BLADE SHAPE:
Kiritsuke-Gyuto is the most versatile and useful blade shape in the modern kitchen. The long blade will work great for preparing larger pieces of meat, slicing fish and chopping vegetables, while the tip can be utilized for intricate, precise work.

The knife has a reverse-tanto tip, also known as a “K-tip” (K for kiritsuke) that slopes downward from the spine and has some great practicality, as it enables precise and effortless work with the tip. The belly of the blade is slightly curved, which differentiates it from a standard, flatter kiritsuke shape and makes it a sort of kiritsuke-gyuto hybrid. This means that the knife can be utilized really well for rocking motions too. It has a wide profile for easy food transfer and tends to be fairly flat towards the heel, enabling easy and fast chopping on the cutting board. 

Traditionally, kiritsuke knives were single-beveled, but have since often been reimagined as double-beveled multi-purpose knives to meet the demands of fast-paced tempos of modern kitchens. They were also only allowed to be used by the Executive Chef of the restaurant, but we’ll look away if you’re not (yet) the head chef. 😜
*The length of the cutting edge is 195mm (heel to point), but with this knife the length is measured from the edge of the handle to the tip of the blade, amounting to 210mm.

STEEL:
SG2 steel is a powder steel, renowned for its hardness and subsequent edge retention—due to a high carbon (C) content of 1.5%. The steel is also high in chromium (Cr)—around 15%, which adds to corrosion resistance and Molybdenum (Mo) that improves the blade’s wear resistance. SG2 steel blades will be able to achieve a fine sharpness due to the fine microstructure of the steel and will keep it—without having to worry about maintenance and corrosion.

LAMINATION:
A high hardness of around 64 HRC means that the blade won’t be very tough, so the blade’s core was laminated using the san-mai method to improve its structural integrity and subsequent ability to withstand impacts and prevent chipping. San-mai translates to “three layers” in Japanese, referring to a blade that is composed of a primary, inner layer of harder steel (hagane) and of two secondary, outer layers of softer steel (jigane) that protect the prior.

GEOMETRY:
It has a double bevel (symmetrical) blade with convex (full hamaguri) grind. Hamaguri grind allows superior sharpness that requires delicate handling and helps to prevent food from sticking to the blade. Such a shape keeps a lot of metal behind the edge and makes for a stronger edge, yet it still allows a good degree of sharpness. The downside to a convex grind is that it is very hard to reproduce by anyone other than a very experienced sharpener.

BLADE FINISH:
The surface of the blade was treated with a special textured hammer, leaving complex geometric impressions on its upper part. The Japanese hexagon hammered finish on knives is a stunning technique that involves skillfully hammering the blade’s surface to create captivating hexagonal indentations.

The tsuchime surface helps to reduce friction and prevents food from sticking to the blade during cutting. The textured surface creates small air pockets which allow for smoother and more precise cutting.

In Japan, the hexagon is prized for its aesthetic appeal and structural stability in traditional arts, crafts, and architecture. It is found in various artistic forms and is also used in the design of Shinto torii doors and modern buildings. The hexagonal shape of the kasagi in torii doors represents the belief in strength and stability associated with the number six.

HANDLE:
The Japanese handle (Wa) is made of teak wood with a buffalo horn ferrule. Suitable for both left and right-handed users. With the choice of the shape and the wood, the handle embodies a simple Japanese aesthetic.

BLACKSMITH:
Nigara Hamono has a 350-year history, making swords since the Edo period. Head blacksmith Tsuyoshi Yoshizawa, who works alongside his father Toshi Yoshizawa, is an eighth generation blacksmith with a passion for art and music as well as knives, and his famous Nigara Anmon design is the result of his love of Andy Warhol’s artwork. Nigara is easily one of the most special knife makers in Japan.