Sanjo · Curation

Start with the Mazaki and Yoshikane you already own, then compare blade thickness, distal taper and the work a different shape can do.

Producers to know

Yoshikane Hamono

Yoshikane has made kitchen knives in Sanjo since 1919, including blades sold under the Hatsukokoro name. Your two examples make the workshop a useful starting point for exploring the region’s combinations of substantial spines, fine edges and distal taper.

Watanabe Blade

Shinichi Watanabe’s family forge makes sickles and machetes alongside kitchen knives. Its Professional nakiri brings some of that toolmaking heft to a vegetable blade with a fine edge.

Tadafusa

Tadafusa has made knives for home cooks and professionals in Sanjō since 1948. Its bread knife shows the workshop designing an edge around one particular job.

Naoki Mazaki

Mazaki works alone, from forging to finishing the bevels on whetstones. On his White #2 kuro nashiji kiritsuke gyuto, the spine tapers toward the tip and the blade faces curve gently into a thin edge.

Shigefusa · Iizuka family

The Iizuka family’s plain kasumi and patterned kitaeji knives offer two ways into traditional Sanjo work. The choice invites a closer look at the finish and the labor it represents, alongside the blade’s geometry.

Knives and lines to seek

Watanabe Professional Blue #2 nakiri · 180 mm

A taller, longer vegetable knife to compare with your Koishi nakiri. Zahocho’s sample stands nearly 59 mm high, with a spine tapering from 3.6 mm at the heel to 1.9 mm halfway along. Look at how that change affects the front half of the blade.

Yoshikane SKD nashiji gyuto · 240 mm

An in-cabinet reference for substantial steel near the spine and a thin section behind the edge. Compare its taper with your Mazaki before deciding what another 240 mm gyuto would add.

Tadafusa HK-1 bread knife · 230 mm

Teeth at the tip start the cut through the crust. The long plain edge slices the soft crumb cleanly and can be sharpened on a stone.

Shigefusa Kitaeji wa-gyuto · 240 mm

The reactive patterned iron cladding is part of the appeal here. At the same nominal length as your Yoshikane SKD gyuto, this gives you a very different finish and maintenance routine.

Mazaki White #2 kuro nashiji kiritsuke gyuto · 210 mm

A substantial heel, lightly convex bevels and pronounced taper make your Mazaki a useful Sanjo reference. Compare those features separately when another gyuto catches your eye.