# Review: Hitohira Hinode 240mm



## ModRQC (Feb 13, 2021)

_This was long overdue. Knew Mutsumi Hinoura was supposed to make a good knife; however I did find height specs and mostly grind a bit erratic whenever I could compare some. Comes to mind even a couple of choil shots where you’d be fairly certain the knife was heavily asymmetrical, and sometimes that on the right side, sometimes on the left... _







_Of course I knew it was _supposed_ to be a symmetrical grind in idea, but even the more symmetrical of them sometimes were somehow ill-shaped. Comes the latest Tosho anniversary sale and I can finally land a pretty cheap price for the SS clad versions; browsing through their selection I remark that they have just one of either KU or Nashiji with the rounded handle, and three KU of the slightly more expensive octagonal. The choil shot accompanying specs for this variation was not perfect, but out of three units I figured I had a fair chance.

I ask confirmation with Tosho that they had multiples and to cherry pick, AFTER purchasing one. They take me seriously enough to forward specs and choils for the three units in a matter of minutes; a good chance I asked, because #1 was 47mm tall only (demo unit so they wouldn’t have sent that one without warning me first) and slightly warped, while #3 was heavily warped – perhaps the most terribly flawed choil I ever had seen so far for these – and the handle was obviously installed offset; #2 per chance had a pretty fair grind and was the tallest closing on 50mm. _












_So the worst part was over with as I had secured what I thought was a rather exemplary unit, but I was still wary: from all the pictures I had seen I could surmise there was a good deal of F&F done right on those knives but it was hard to distinguish just exactly how much, and there seemed to be a certain roughness to them all…_


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## ModRQC (Feb 13, 2021)

*RESELLER/SERIES*​*Hitohira Hinode*​*BLADESMITH/SHARPENER*​*Mutsumi Hinoura*​*TYPE & LENGTH*​*Gyuto 240mm*​*FINISH & STEEL*​*Kurouchi Shirogami #2*​*WEIGHT / BALANCE*​*209g / +40*​*HANDLE MATERIAL*​*Ho Wood & Buffalo Horn*​​​TOTAL LENGTH​405​BLADE LENGTH​259​EDGE LENGTH​*243*​​​HEIGHT AT HEEL​*50*​HEIGHT AT MID BLADE​43​HEIGHT 35mm TO TIP​26​​​*SPINE THICKNESS*​(4.8 out of handle)HEEL​*3.7*​MID BLADE​2.7​35mm TO TIP​2.3​10mm TO TIP​*1.2*​​​*THICKNESS OVER THE EDGE*​@ 10/5/1mm (Choil=True*)HEEL + 10mm​1.3 / 0.6 / < 0.1​MID BLADE​1.3 / 0.6 / < 0.1​35mm TO TIP​1.2 / 0.6 / < 0.1​TIP**​1.1 / 0.5 / < 0.1​
** True in line with Heel +10mm. False is significantly different - see choil shot.
** Nearest to tip with still 10mm perpendicular up the edge just below the spine.





*
The box is somewhat nice except for the pretentious gold accent, and lacking in protection with just a VCI fold over the blade and that fragile insert for the tip to “secure” the knife dead center: that mine was almost teared apart as I open it first time, and couldn’t withstand the most delicate of trying to pull the knife out without tearing completely, is but the perfect reflection to a pretty cheap package. Box doesn’t count towards my scoring system anymore, and it’s hopefully the last time I feel inclined to underline that fact, but I will always present it as part of the first impressions, here rather deceiving, as well as for its protective capacity, here nothing too solid nor tight, although the centering insert is not a bad idea in itself. Pretty amazing edge OOTB with this unit, so if that is usually how they come, at least the insert keeps the edge from hitting the side of the box time and again during transit.


*Handle: 0.5/1*
_Aesthetics & Balance_

I’m sure seeing a lot of Ho handles these days. It’s not a bad thing entirely, in my case, because I quite like the plain looks of them. With a lot of blades however lighter handles such as these can become problematic, and here the Hinode feels slightly too forward heavy with balance 40mm forward the heel for 209 grams.






Also aggravating is this one being yet another example that can’t sustain one general washing OOTB without getting all plushy; therefore, what you see in the pics here has been quickly re-sanded using #320/#3000 (horn ferrule), and treated to some mineral oil and board wax.

Still works for me, and to its defense is of the strong, consistent and well-done kind, but stretching things a bit as for ideal balance; and now I’m getting fed with Ho because of how they tend to compromise this. Machi saves the day to some extent – real comfortable and helping to manage the bulk forward. Sure love the looks of the light wood against the dark kurouchi.

This last ever bout of love n’ hate for Ho handles so that I can s**t all over the next one within two lines.

*Blade: 1/1*
_Choil & Spine_






And here is about where it stops – the somewhat wrong first impressions I got with the Hinode. Here we get, not without some delightful paradox, a very roughly smooth rounded spine and choil. It’s no almost mirror-polish smooth, nor no kind of elaborate crowning, but it’s enough and preserves with the beautifully rustic looks of the knife to a degree flirting with perfect – as I couldn’t find fault of any spot for fingers where it really, actually felt rough. Remark on the handle pic above just how the underside of the neck has been well-rounded too, as to compliment the present pic – where I admit things look rough, but that was exactly my point in the foreword, and I was happy to find that the knife exceeded expectations from the online pictures.

*Finish: 1/1*
_Aesthetics & Maintenance_





I’m somewhat known to be afflicted with KurouchiDown Syndrome - or just the other thing - and I won’t be denying it, but embracing it whenever I can. Now will NOT be such a time. I want this KU to withstand forever. I had a bit of a fright when washing away the multiple Sharpie marks I inscribe on a blade upon taking full measurements: acetone did somewhat of a work with spotting the finish some. However, the lightest touch of mineral oil had it look just about perfect again – and spotting hasn’t come back after some prep and a good wash. Being stainless clad also cuts down maintenance to the easiest sweet spot of carbon blades.

*Performance: 1.5/2 *
_Geometry & Grind




_
Profile is pretty perfect for a 240mm on the regular side of height, with a nice flat spot and steep belly to a rather centered tip. There’s some nice spinal tapering heel to tip, but mostly from heel to mid-blade, and the knife is still quite thick at the tip – pretty typical of Sanjo blades there.









Grind is also superbly done with this unit, pretty much faultless to the best of my observations, and very consistent along the full length of the blade. Quite thin right behind the edge too, but growing in thickness rather quickly so that 10mm over the edge is well over 1mm thick even at the tip. It still somehow meets ideal thinness, although more with a workhorse style. The shinogi transition is rather steep and felt very prominently in taller produces, but the blade is still keen to get through despite the wedging tendency. In all absolute, those bevels don’t go quite high enough for the thickness at the shinogi or even 10mm behind the edge, so I’ve seen better performance with wide bevels, even if some basic tendency to some wedging or suction is a rather uniform experience across the range.






Geometry, already part of the discussion above obviously, is not as excellent with food release neither as I would have pegged it for “on paper”. It’s certainly not bad, but there’s quite the tendency for food to stick to the blade, and with either the bevel finish or kurouchi finish, drags some as you wipe it off. Grind and geometry, all being said, work pretty well with this knife, in line with the kind of performance to expect out of a workhorse wide bevel even where it doesn’t feel like one.

I remove half a point overall for the various slight drawbacks to be found with it in my sense: food separation and food release are not optimal even for a wide bevel, thinness behind the edge and shinogi transition not exactly geared towards performance enough to compensate. With this unit I add to these general drawbacks the more case specific and subjective facts that the forward balance is just a tad too much for me to have full control with the tip area, and thickness there is not to help with the nimbler cuts and some paring work I like even a 240mm to accomplish well.

Where this knife really shine is when the basic cuts are done, and you get to process with final stack/bulk cutting. For those who like to use a utility or else alongside their main weapon to get the detailing done, it’s a tremendously good knife packing more punch and value than its price tag. When, like me, you like a one-do-it-all weapon, it is not the best in its category – or any category for that matter. To get an idea through comparison, I found my workhorse wide bevel Kawamura/Y. Tanaka nimbler even where it was 30 grams heavier and 4mm taller than the Hinoura here: it had a more decent balance, was marginally thinner 10mm behind the edge, had taller bevels, smoother shinogi, and a much finer tip. Not making this one bad, and they can’t all be the same knife: I remove just that half-point because I think there’s beef enough to complain that cannot warrant perfect score, and some is bound to at least partially be felt by any user, even where it is a better than average knife on the whole.

*Overall Score: 4/5




*


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## ModRQC (Feb 13, 2021)

*Personal take: *

_Shirogami #2 here feels very hard here, but despite how aggressively thin right behind the edge, and how very bulky and heavy above it, that edge solidly withstood a fair bit of roughing without a complaint. It did want to cut right into the end-grain board too, quite possibly in reality aiming for the countertop underneath. I’d be tempted to say, so far: amazing HT. 

I don’t think I can lay down enough praise to just how magnificently rustic that knife is, how powerful is the sensation to take it in hand, or how every look I steal at it sparks awe and eagerness to use it. Still can’t explain that to myself, as its pretty plain and regular from the onset.. But now if ever someone asks me what knife should be picked that will sum up best the handmade traditions in modern J-cutlery while being a pretty amazing cutter, I’d probably point to this one before anything else, out of 30 or so J-knives I tried so far. I’ve seen a few certainly more elementary, but I think this is the first to just feel… elemental._


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## nakiriknaifuwaifu (Feb 13, 2021)

Finding creative ways to postpone your denka purchase I see 
Nice write up as always. They always seemed like very well built knives, but the low heel height is always a dealbreaker to me. Interesting that the HT is worth it (how is it compared to Mazacci?), maybe I will contact M. Hinoura and tell him to make me a 240x60. Or maybe 30 of them for KKF.


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## ModRQC (Feb 13, 2021)

Woah, the power of you.  



nakiriknaifuwaifu said:


> Or maybe 30 of them for KKF.



BTW, some preliminary inquiry was sent to Gaku.  And it's no postponing, never said I was in any hurry. You wouldn't know what I'm contemplating else as that email to Gaku was sent. There are many many knives... one of them doesn't exist yet.


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## ModRQC (Feb 14, 2021)

nakiriknaifuwaifu said:


> Interesting that the HT is worth it (how is it compared to Mazacci?)



My Mazaki 188/56 5.5mm out of handle Nakiri was pretty elemental too.  Was thinking to add it - but I was such a noob back then, didn't think THAT POV should stick with the review.


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## ModRQC (Feb 14, 2021)

ModRQC said:


> My Mazaki 188/56 5.5mm out of handle Nakiri was pretty elemental too.  Was thinking to add it - but I was such a noob back then, didn't think THAT POV should stick with the review.



As a add-on: I was too noob to ever be sure... but I sharpened and thinned the Mazaki, and I had found the steel to be powdery on the stones. Then it got sold and I imparted this to my noobness and unfamiliarity with a pure carbon such as White #2. But at the time I had "thinned" and sharpened a Misono Swedish, probably 1095-ish steel and a pretty pure carbon too, without finding as much of a hassle. Much later I stumbled upon a thread here where some people were stating of their experience with some Mazaki ill HT, which although not "common", suddenly didn't seem all that uncommon neither. Never pushed into it as I felt it wasn't my place. As another comparison point, I've spent some time with my former Y. Tanaka W#2 and the stones, and it sure didn't behave like the Mazaki.


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## zizirex (Feb 14, 2021)

Nice, so you got the KU one. 90% of Hinoura's handle sucks but my 210 AS is the best handle out of all knives I have bought. it was Rosewood but Heavy like Ebony. it is one of a kind since it doesn't appear anymore. I got the D handle Nashiji because I know I'm gonna change my handle sooner or later.

One hell of a performance knife it is. Stainless clad is the cherry on top.


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## ModRQC (Feb 14, 2021)

zizirex said:


> Nice, so you got the KU one. 90% of Hinoura's handle sucks but my 210 AS is the best handle out of all knives I have bought. it was Rosewood but Heavy like Ebony. it is one of a kind since it doesn't appear anymore. I got the D handle Nashiji because I know I'm gonna change my handle sooner or later.
> 
> One hell of a performance knife it is. Stainless clad is the cherry on top.



Got the one with the nice grind. Rest was not so much into consideration, especially where with this one KU and Nashiji just look about exactly the same.


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## big_adventure (Feb 14, 2021)

Great review as always.  

As discussed elsewhere, I feel the same with my Hinoura AS. Mine's a tiny bit thinner (3.2mm spine at heel, 2.5mm midblade), taller (51mm) and longer (246mm), with an ebony handle that addresses the issue with your Ho.  All of the fit and finish stuff on the steel are exquisite.

Mine came with a garbage edge out of box, but sharpening it is a doddle and it's holding "clean onion-skin and tomato cuts by weight" through 4 decent prep sessions so far. I guess that's why cleancut offers an option to "buy extra sharpness" when you buy the knife. Other than that, it does wedge/stick a bit on thick, heavy vegetables that don't yield much. Food release, to me, isn't bad, but mileage she doth vary depending on how one cuts and what one cuts.


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