Masutani VG1 Tsuchime Nakiri 165mm Slim

Part of the edge never reaches the board, so the cut never finishes. At our counter we put it simply: there is not enough flat at the heel. A knife with a long curve is built for rock chopping, not for the Chinese or Eastern up-and-down chop.

A straight edge, like a nakiri's, meets the board along its whole length and finishes the cut. On any knife, a dip worn near the heel or a dull section can cause the same thing.

The bevel. A Japanese dictionary describes the nakiri (菜切包丁) as shaped like an usuba but double-bevel and relatively easy to handle; the Sakai cutlery association describes the usuba (薄刃包丁) as an acute, wide knife for vegetables, in a square Kanto type and a kamagata Kansai type.

The names overlap, since another dictionary records the usuba as also called nakiri, so check the bevel rather than the name.

On Takefu's own figures, VG1 (V金1号) carries 14.00% chromium and 0.30% molybdenum, at HRC 61 or more, while VG10 carries 15.00% chromium, 1.00% molybdenum, 0.25% vanadium and 1.55% cobalt at HRC 60 or more.

Both hold 1.00% carbon, and Takefu describes VG1, refined from low-impurity raw material, as the origin of its V steel series: dense in structure and tough, it forges well and is easy to heat-treat.

Four. Masutani's own page says it has carried the 700-year tradition of Echizen forged knives, Echizen uchihamono, across four generations.

The workshop, 増谷刃物製作, works in Takefu, Echizen City, Fukui.