# Masakage vs. Masakage



## mark76 (Mar 6, 2016)

Ive long been interested in Masakage knives. Theyre known as beautiful knives that are good performers. The first Masakage I owned was a Yuki. This was however, a bit of a disappointment: it was quite thick above the edge and consequently it wedged on a lot of foods. So I changed it for a Koishi. This one, in contrast, is crazy thin above the edge.






Masakage Koishi

Later I also obtained a Masakage Zero. This was at the proposal of Matt Delosso who was going to make a handle for me. At first sight the Zero may look as the Western version of the Koishi: it has no kurouchi and a western handle instead of a yo handle, but it shares with the Koishi a hammered finish and the fact that it is made of stainless cladded Aogami Supersteel. However, we will see there are also significant differences between the knives.





Masakage Zero

Originally, the Koishi came with an octagonal handle of cherry wood and a black pakka wood ferrule. The Zero came with an ironwood handle and a welded bolster. Both handles were well finished.

However, Ive had both knives rehandled with handles made of mammoth tooth and they are now the most beautiful knives I own. US chef and handle maker Matt Delosso made a handle for my Masakage Zero out of Mammoth tooth and Ctek, with a brass bolster. Dutch knife maker, handle maker and leather worker Frederiek de Vette made a handle out of mammoth tooth and bog oak for my Masakage Koishi. I wrote a separate blog post on the handles, so in this review I will concentrate on the blades.






*Blade looks, profile and grind*

As I wrote, both knives are made of stainless cladded Aogami Supersteel, which is hardened to about 64 HRC. They have a hammered finish, which in my view aids to their aesthetics. Something else they share is their height at the heel: 47 mm for both knives. The main difference regarding looks is that the Koishi has a kurouchi finish, wheareas the Zero does not.

The profiles of the knives are somewhat different. The Koishi doesn't really have a flat spot. Instead, it has a recurve towards the heel. This causes a mean sharp point at the heel and I've already managed to cut myself on it.

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Koishi profile

The Zero does have a proper flat spot, but the remainder of the profile is similar to that of the Koishi.





Zero profile

The spines of the knives are quite different. The Koishi has a spine that is 3.4 mm wide above the heel and then gradually tapers to 1.1 mm at 1 cm from the tip.





Koishi spine

The Zero has a spine with almost no distal taper: it is about 1.9 mm wide over almost its entire length. It only tapers near the tip and at 1 cm from the tip it is, like the Koishi, 1.1 mm wide.





Zero spine

What both knives share is that they are wickedly thin just above the edge. Both knives have been ground somewhat asymmetrically and near the edge their grind is slightly hollow. (The choil shots only show this marginally.)





Koishi





Zero

*Cutting performance*

Even though both knives came out of the box pretty sharp, I first took them to my stones. The steel these knives are made of is great. They can take a wickedly sharp edge! And the edge will stay sharp for a long time as well. One does have to be a bit careful with these knives, since they are so thin above the edge.

I would classify both knives as all-round knives. They are wider at their spines (and at their tips) than lasers, but they are not as wide as workhorse knives.

I can be brief about the cutting performance of both knives: they cut great. Whatever I threw at them, from tomatoes to hard and dense products like carrots, they cut them very well. I experienced no wedging at all. These knives really show the importance of a blade being thin just above the edge. They also dealt well with onions, although I must say that knives with thinner tips, like my Carter funayuki or my Dalman gyuto worked even better on these. Even though both knives were ground somewhat asymmetrically, I experienced no steering.






Both knives had above average food release. Their hammered finish probably helps a little in this. I have read reports that the kurouchi finish on the Koishi would cause some drag when cutting, but I did not experience this.

Their differences in profile makes the Zero a bit more suitable for push cutting, whereas the Koishi is very good at rock chopping.

*Conclusion*

Both the Masakage Koishi and the Masakage Zero are beautiful knives that cut great. Their Aogami Supersteel can take a very sharp edge and stays sharp for a long time as well.

There are sufficient differences as well: the Koishi has a kurouchi finish and a yo handle. The Zero has a polished finish and a western handle. And whereas the Zero has a proper flat spot, the Koishi has a recurve towards the heel.

I think it is entirely personal which one you may prefer, but both a great knives.

*Factsheets*

The numbers in the factsheets refer to the knives with the original handles.


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## mark76 (Mar 6, 2016)

All comments are welcome!

You can also read this review on my blog, nicely formatted and accompanied by many other reviews.


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## aboynamedsuita (Mar 6, 2016)

As always excellent review :doublethumbsup:

Did you find that the mammoth handles added to the weight or shifted the balance point?


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## mark76 (Mar 6, 2016)

Thanks! Mammoth tooth is heavier than most woods, but not as much as you might think. On the Zero the balance point is about 1 cm in front of the choil, on the Koishi it is right at the choil.


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## YG420 (Mar 6, 2016)

Man, Matt Delosso makes the best handles!


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## BrownBear (Mar 7, 2016)

Awesome review, as always!

I like the fact that you always remain objective, but which knife do you prefer?


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## mark76 (Mar 9, 2016)

Thanks! In practice I see myself grabbing the Koishi more often. The reason is not that it cuts better (both excel at this). I still have one go-to gyuto (my Suisin Inox honyaki) that is very good for slicing and push-cutting. With its round profile the Koishi is very good for rocking (like I do with herbs etc.) and I often grab it for this. The Zero is still too much a beauty queen. I can recommend it to anyone, though.


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## Ydj32 (Aug 16, 2016)

Matt Delosso handles!


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## tgfencer (Sep 17, 2016)

+1 to the Koishi. I have a 240m and its cuts very well being so thin behind the edge. I do get a bit of stickage with potatoes on the kurouchi finish, but it minimal. I do wish it had more of a flat spot, however, and I too have also caught myself on the upswept heel. The aogami super takes and holds a wonderful edge, as you might imagine.


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## CutFingers (Sep 25, 2016)

I never cared for my Shimo knife. It never held it's edge long and it always seem to loose it. The edge wasn't polished very well and for a 300$ knife I expected a lot more. I think the wedging issue has to do with the thin blade....An knife that edges less with have thicker and thinner portions of metal. An absolute razor will do single scary thin cuts, but it will also wedge, unless you are a super great at speed chopping, but even then, the speed chopping will microchip or outright dull the edge.

I prefer my Tanaka...doesn't wedge as much and it just holds an edge better. I think Masakage knives are more of a brand name than an actual craft. One can purchase any modest Blue or White knife...spend hours refining the edge, and shaping the bevels profile and get the same results...A few hours of my time is worth it, considering I get better performance.

I won't recommend Masakage. The handles are a joke for the price.


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## preizzo (Sep 26, 2016)

The koishi are a different story, very good cutters for the price point and they don't wedge at all.!


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## Castalia (Sep 26, 2016)

I am a big fan of my koishi bunka. It takes a great edge. :doublethumbsup:


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## copperJon (Sep 26, 2016)

CutFingers said:


> I never cared for my Shimo knife.



I actually quite like my Shimo 270 suji. It's held an edge well, and surprisingly hasn't been super reactive, though for the most part it's been used on cold raw meats. I think the cladding is a bit over the top, but I can't complain performance-wise


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## Keith Sinclair (Oct 5, 2016)

Couple nice looking blades Mark


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## cheflife15 (Oct 12, 2016)

Those handles are out of this world beautiful.


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## StephenYu (Nov 18, 2016)

those handles are absolutely beautiful!


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## valgard (Jan 10, 2017)

Beautiful handles, this thread made me want a Koichi even more. I'm guessing the handle did change the balance point of the Koichi since the one I held at the store was clearly blade heavy with the balance point slightly in front of my pinch.


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## cheflarge (Jan 10, 2017)

Mind numbing knives (& handles)!!! Thanks for doing this Mark. Extremely well done and thorough review. :doublethumbsup:


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## foody518 (Jan 10, 2017)

valgard said:


> Beautiful handles, this thread made me want a Koichi even more. I'm guessing the handle did change the balance point of the Koichi since the one I held at the store was clearly blade heavy with the balance point slightly in front of my pinch.



Both the 210 and the 240?


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## valgard (Jan 10, 2017)

foody518 said:


> Both the 210 and the 240?



Yes, although the 210 was almost there. The 240 was more clearly forward balanced.


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