Anryu Aogami Super Kurouchi Tsuchime 165mm Santoku

The santoku is hand-forged with Aogami Super core steel with stainless steel cladding, finished by a characterful kurouchi finish and an aesthetically-pleasing tsuchime finish. Beautifully grinded with superb thinness behind-edge and a refined kasumi polish, the excellent edge geometry and distal tapering ensure a sleek cutting performance. Instead of a stock handle, we have fitted the knife with custom Hachikaku (Octagonal) wenge / black buffalo horn wa-handle for a more refined look and better weight balance.

Spec:

• Origin (Made in): Echizen, Fukui Prefecture, Japan
• Brand: Anryu Hamono
• Craftsman: Takumi Ikeda
  
• Knife Type: Santoku
• Blade
• Construction: San Mai
• Grind: Double-edged Blade (50/50 Grind)
• Hagane (Core Steel): Aogami Super (Blue Super)
• Jigane (Cladding): Stainless Steel
• Hardness: 63-64 HRC
  
• Hand-forged, hand- ground, hand-sharpened
• Blade Finishes:
• Tsuchime (Hammered)
• Kurouchi
• Kasumi Polish
• Blade Length: 165mm (6.5")
• Blade Height (at heel): 46mm
• Spine Thickness
• Above heel: 3.2mm
• Middle: 1.9mm
• Handle
• Shape: Hachikaku (Octagonal)
• Material: Wenge
• Kuchiwa: Buffalo Horn
  
• Length: 128mm
• Overall Length: 313mm
• Weight: 141g (4.97oz)
• Engraved Mark: In Japanese Kanji "Echizen Anryu" (越前 安立)

About Anryu Hamono 安立打刃物

Katsushige Anryu is the 4th generation knife artisan at Anryu Hamono, a small knife making workshop in Echizen started by his great grandfather Hansaburo Anryu in 1873. Katsushige-san joined the family business in 1959 at a very young age. Under the guidance of his father Katsutoshi Anryu, he mastered traditional knife forging and became a certified traditional knife artisan. Highly respected for his works and his integrity, Katsushige-san was elected the chairman of the Takefu Knife Village Co-op, an association of Echizen's best knife makers. He was recognized in 2015 for the medal of honourable work of traditional crafts. Katsushige-san works retired by the end of 2020, and the 5th generation Takumi Ikeda, a nephew of his, is now in charge of Anryu Hamono. 

Care:

Aogami Super (Blue Super) steel is considered the most superior Japanese high carbon steel for knife making. It is not stainless, therefore you must wipe your knife dry after each use, in particular the core steel not covered by the stainless cladding. Patina will develop over time, which will appear as “discoloration” on the cutting edge, but that is the nature of carbon steel - not a defect. The stainless cladding covers a large part of the blade, making maintenance easier but still preserving the cutting and sharpening pleasure of the Aogami Super core. Avoid cutting into bones, frozen foods, hard fruit pits.

Cutting Surface:

Recommended cutting surface: wood, rubberized boards and high-end composites, and quality plastics such as polyethene make acceptable cutting surfaces, and will help protect and prolong knife’s edge. AVOID glass, metal, countertops, and other rigid, non-forgiving surfaces.

Sharpening:

We recommend sharpening all quality Japanese knives on whetstones, as we believe they yield the best results for your knives.