The Yoake(夜明け, Day break) is a line commissioned by Hatsukokoro, and it's truly a very unique piece. The core steel is Blue 1, with soft iron cladding and Kurouchi finish, not something uncommon. But, the overall geometry, grind and the profile really differ this line from other knives.
The Yoake line is forged in Sanjo area by the same maker who forged the Yorokobi natural stone finish line, similar to the Yorokobi line, this line got a very large overall profile. The height of the 240 K-tip gyuto above the heel measures at 54.5mm, which is very high for its kind. There is also not much tapering throughout these knives except at the end, resulting very wide blades, especially on the K-tip gyuto.
This significant size and thick spine adds a lot of weight to the blade, the 240 K-tip gyuto, weighting 258g, is heavier than almost all other blades of the same length and profile, except the single bevel Shirasagi, which is a very special existence. It is not necessarily a bad thing, as some people prefere the stability that a heavy knife offers. On this particular knife, the extra width also adds more control to the cut, and wider bevel combines with a concave grind acturally brings the thick spine down to a very thin edge, which leads to a very smooth and sharp cutting feeling paired with the exceptional Blue 1 steel.
To keep the rustic look, Kurouchi knives usually don't receive polishing on the spine and choil, but these kinves seems to have these corners rounded before they are heat treated, so when you warp you hands around the spine and choil, the matt Kurouchi finish acturally feels quite good.
The bevel of this Yoake line is where it suprises me, with a very beautiful Kasumi finish, it forms great contrast with the rough looking Kurouchi body. As Kasumi means the rosy cloud, I have to wonder if the make have this in mind when they make the Yoake, as when put the knife horizontally spine down, it really creat a scene of cloudy sky brightening above the darke earth, where the cloud haven't got lit bright red by the rising sun.
The Yoake is a very "masculine" line according to one of our customer who saw it, and I cannot disagree with her with the hefty weight and rough look. However the detailing, finishing and the cutting performance are done so well, is a line I would definitely going to recommend to anyone who want a blade with solid weight.
