Sasame(笹目, Bamboo Pattern) a line crafted by Yu Kurosaki that is built a little bit different. With the Gekko, Senko and Kokusen using stamping method to produce the blank, the knives from the Sasame are all forged, which can be identified by its thick Machi(neck) and distal taper in the spine. This adds rigidity to the blade and made it feel very confident and precise to use, and the stainless nature will make this a line highly suitable for professionals in busy kitchen.
The combination of forging and stainless steel may seems simple, but it is something worth noting. When steel is heated up for forging, the stainless steel will be harder and deform less compare to carbon steel, there is also a smaller temperature zone you can forge them at. For these reasons, you would rarely see forged stainless steel knives.
When forging, many blacksmiths would like to thin down the blade but kept the neck and tang thick, which increases the rigidity of the blade agains t bending and torsion and gives some weight to the knife. As the result, the knife will feel very responsive and follow your desired cutting trajectory especially when cutting hard objects, and thin, high performance blade(that Kurosaki san and other Echizen smiths are known for) won't feel gossamery.
The Sasame itself inherent some of the features that we love about Kurosaki san's knives: great finish, thin and aggressive bevel geometry and a bamboo leaf pattern that proudly display its identity. The nuance is, the bevel of Sasame is not a concave grind, but a convex instead, which does improve the food release and smoothness of the cut. Pairing with the highly polished bevel surface, Sasame is the best gliding knife I've every tested from Kurosaki.
Using the Cobalt Special as the core steel, the Sasame wouldn't be as pricy as the R2/SG2 Shizuku/Fujin that are also forged, it is a successor to the previous COSP line Raijin, and is a great option for professionals and knife enthusiasts.
By
Yu Kurosaki
