Just like the legendary Fujin and Raijin, Shizuku(雫, droplet) is one of the original forged lineups produced by Yu Kurosaki that got widely recognized and praised by customers across the world. With years of refinement and adjustment, the Shizuku nowadays have become a balanced lineup with excellent handling and performance.
The Shizuku back in 2017 was quite a different knife: strong hammer marks, lightly polished surface with some brown colouring left from heat treating, and a very strong concave grind that creates a very thin edge when paired with the thinly forged blade. Although that version of Shizuku is amazing to cut with, the very brittle edges have made it almost unusable for most users.
The current version of the Shizuku has a more refined look and stronger grind, the beautifully polished surface retains the signature hammer texture, transitions smoothly into the polished and lightly sandblasted bevel, giving the knife a Ukiba-style finish on the bevel. The geometry now comes in a convex shape, which is often considered the best way of creating bevels. When done right, the edge can submerge into most food with its own weight, then the gradually bulging bevel can then encourage the slice of food to peel off from the surface, leading to overall very smooth cut with low resistance and little sticking issues. Without doubt, the expertise built over years by Kurosaki san and his team allow them to have a full control on the geometry of the bevel, and achieve this excellent cutting experience consistently throughout the entire Shizuku range.
Another highlight of this line is the forged feature on these blades, which have been another signature characteristic of the Echizen knifemaking. Due to the higher alloy content, stainless steels are generally much harder to hand forge and require much more precise temperature control to not “overcook” the steel, for this reason, most blacksmith would choose to work with carbon steel that is more tolerant. However, Echizen blacksmiths are experts in hand forging stainless steel, their unique technique allows them to forge two billets together to retain heat, leaving a longer time window for them to shape the knife under the spring hammer. Shizuku, and many other Kurosaki knives, are forged this way, and you can tell by the distinct taper in the spine of the knife, which is thicker near the handle and thinner near the tip. Knives made like this feel rigid, precise and easy to handle, they have a tip that follows your command and some weigh near the pinch grip that dampens them, the thin blades are incredible to cut while remaining strong while cutting hard items. These knives are some of the most confident instilling tools to use on the chopping board.
As a lineup that has been sold for more than a decade, the popularity of the Shizuku remains high, and it's simply because there is hardly an alternative that can offer similar specs: high edge retention steel, hand forged blade, top notch sharpening and characterful design. If you happen to find one available within your budget, Shizuku is definitely a classic piece that you want to give it a shot at, as they are not the easiest knives to come by most of the time.
