Yuki(雪, Snow) is a simple and elegant line offered by Masakage, Nashiji surface, Migaki bevel with soft kasumi polish on the soft cladding, it's a minimalistic design that that aims to display nothing but the organic trace produced by the craft of the blacksmith and the sharpener. This simple silver look almost feels like a gentle snow that takes away colour, leaving just texture and geometry of the blade for you to experience in hand.
The choice of steel seems to complement the name too. With Hitachi White #2, you can obtain an extremely sharpen edge on these blades. Although bring prone to rust, the stainless cladding on the outside covers up most of the core steel with Kato san's masterful forging, making it relatively easier to maintain compare to knives with iron cladding.
The spine of these knives are lightly tapered, enough to let you know it is a hand forged knife, the thickness if the blade ensure a good rigidity and gives weight to the blade, make Yuki a line with very solid feel in hand. That thickness doesn't reduce the cutting performance thanks to the sharpening done by Shibata san. In the spine shot we can clearly see the thick blade gets thinned down to a edge with a beautiful concave grind. Combining with the aggressive edge you can get with carbon steel, Yuki is excellent in food penetration. As the food reach the Shinogi line, they would also release off cleanly.
Fo people look to get an authentically crafted knife, Yuki would be a great option. The hand forging and sharpening feature are strong on these blades while the simple design kept the price relatively affordable. If you are curious about why these knives are beloved by knife enthusiasts and professionals, consider this line as you first step into the world of artisan knives.
By
Masakage
