Kanemasa Aogami #2 Kurouchi 165mm Nakiri

Great introductory knife. It's the real deal profile. Thinned down enough to glide through produce. Has a great profile to practice thinning or sharpening blade road.
Gave it to my mom to pulverize with her abusive nature (only to knives). She chopped on hard walnut, but hard stems from produce, thrown in the stainless sink, and even did a few granite top quickies with a paper towel (oh mom... lol). Got it back from her with with considerable corrosion from zero lube after whipping up a salsa. Was even nice enough to sanitize with lime and wipe down afterwards haha. Should have taken a before picture, but you could almost measure the thickness of the corrosion (practically an orange knife).

The good news: thanks to Ryky's advice on the Rust Erasers from his helpful and honesy videos, the knife looks way better, and us now ready to be reshaped/sharpened.
Crazy how he says thing to endorse budgeting instead of peddling his high ends (probably because knife people won't listen regardless haha).
Picture is only after using rust eraser. I've seen other knives pit 10x worse, which attests to the quality of the steel. The chips at the edge were ridiculously minor considering what it's been through. Hopefully I can add a post sharpenend picture/video down the road.

Hand chiseled Japanese knife at this price with this steel? Just grab one. You're welcome.

This is my first ever artisan knive, and only my second ever carbon steel knife, and I have to say I'm absolutely impressed with this blade. It's very front heavy, but I expected that from the lighter handle material and it being a vegetable cleaver in the first place. Blade came with some small imperfections from the knife maker, but nothing that left the knife functionally insufficient. On the right hand side of the blade there is a spot where it contacted the wheel during sharpening, leaving a mark, and on the flat tip there is a dent left from the forging process. But it being an artisan knife these were expected, and honestly add to the character of the blade alongside the beautiful rough finish. The blade also came extremely sharp, easily comparable to any of the knives in my kitchen which I sharpen on stones myself.

All in all, this blade is a welcome addition to my kitchen, has quickly become a favorite, and will likely not be the last artisan knife for me to buy. It was well worth the money.

Oh, and to add onto this, shipping times were excellent and it even arrived ahead of schedule. Nothing to do with the knife of course, but well appreciated.

Bought one for myself and one for my sister, as our introductions to Japanese forged steel. Both blades appear to be perfect. Have made veggie soup and potato soup so far. Today will get a whack at boneless chicken for curry chicken. Edge still as sharp as Churchill's wit and without the lingering cigar aroma. Going to have to try a rust eraser to get the stain from fresh turmeric off. (Rookie mistake!)

This is my first japanese knife and i must say i am very happy with the purchase! Ive been following Ryky's journey for about 5 years now and im glad im able to get my hands on this knife. Razor sharp out of the box. Love the finish too! Excellent price point.

Its a budget blue steel knife but I still expect the factory edge to be free of chips. At half a mm it wasn't too difficult to fix and cutting performance is great as expected of a blue steel, thin ground nakiri took to a heart that's up to 62.