# “Memory Lane” Review: Sanjo Knives, Oddballs And a New Wakui



## ModRQC (Oct 31, 2021)

*MAKER*​*Toshihiro Wakui*​*TYPE & LENGTH*​*Gyuto 210mm*​*STEEL & BLADE*​* Aogami #2 Iron Clad*​*FINISH*​*Kurouchi Nashiji*​*WEIGHT / BALANCE*​*194g / +20*​*HANDLE MATERIAL*​*Ebony/Pakka*​​​TOTAL LENGTH​355​BLADE LENGTH​226​EDGE LENGTH​*215*​​​HEIGHT AT HEEL​*48*​HEIGHT AT MID BLADE​41​HEIGHT 35mm TO TIP​27​​​*SPINE THICKNESS*​*(4.9 mm out of handle)*HEEL​*4.4*​MID BLADE​2.5​35mm TO TIP​2.2​10mm TO TIP​*1.1*​​​*WIDE BEVEL EDGE THICKNESS*​@ 19-21 (Shinogi) / 10 / 5 / 1mm overHEEL + 10mm​2.4 / 1.4 / 0.8 / 0.1​MID BLADE​2.2 / 1.3 / 0.7 / 0.1​35mm TO TIP​2 / 1.1 / 0.5 / < 0.1​TIP​-- / 1 / 0.4 / < 0.1​
_Here the full measurements BTE because I found this one had some interesting taper in the grind. Also a mathematically rigorous take on a Sanjo spinal taper: tip area half of heel area, and very tip half of tip area._


Box is the same than both Yoshikane I had: non-descript woven-fiber patterned blue box without engraving or even a single Kanji sticker but the triage one some vendors use at the handle end. Very different lighting in the pictures but they’re the same color.




The cardboard liners all have a not-so-solid cutout for the handle, but Yoshi’s were plain white; when I saw Wakui’s patterned one, I had a strong _déjà vu_. Couldn’t be from a vendor’s pic since they usually don’t bother, so I automatically went through my mental catalog of former knives before remembering halfway that I had loomed over a Wakui W#2 SS Clad on BST a while back that was pictured in the box – duh! All this seems very pointless babble, and perhaps is, but the whole thing basically gave me the idea for the new twist with this here review.

I’m still as eager buying different knives, after some 40+ of them in less than two years, than I was back when I started pinning for more than my (still) beloved Vics and (once) beloved Zwilling Diplôme. I don’t check the tracking frantically anymore. I’m still thrilled to open the box and first handle the knife. I’m bored with the process of taking pics while it’s brand new but it seems necessary for proper reviewing. Taking precise measurements is still a ceremonial thing, since I love comparative specs, and the same with first use – the latter I kind of rush the whole shebang towards nowadays. However, the initial magic is something that is sort of fading along the way, even where the Force to buy Knives is still way too strong with this reviewer (’s wallet).

Triggering old recollections of once always so special encounters, the whole _déjà vu _happenstance combined with my eagerness to meet this Wakui: for the first time since a good while, the old magic was revived. And where magic is concerned, Sanjo knives usually have a knack for some more singular, visceral vibes seldom other regions have. I can’t pretend to convey such things here, but I hope that within a huge amount of pics there will be some occasion for some readers to recollect of some magical encounters with some awesome Sanjo knives – or else.


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## ModRQC (Oct 31, 2021)

CHOILS






_Mazaki 190mm Nakiri - Kurouchi Shirogami #2 - April 2020

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_Yoshikane 180mm Santoku - Tsuchime SKD-12 - October 2020

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_Toyama 210mm Gyuto - Noborokoi Aogami #2 -January 2021

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_Yoshikane 210mm Gyuto - Tsuchime SKD-12 - January 2021

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_M. Hinoura (Hinode) 240mm Gyuto - Kurouchi Shirogami #2 - February 2021

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_Mazaki 210mm Gyuto – Migaki Shirogami #2 - July 2021

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*Wakui 210mm Gyuto - Kurouchi Nashiji Aogami #2 - September 2021*



And some thematic oddballs:






_(New Mexico, USA) Shi.Han 210mm Gyuto - Kurouchi 52100 - October 2020 (Old stock)_






_(Sakai, Japan) Kawamura/Y. Tanaka 260mm Gyuto - Damascus Shirogami #1 - December 2020_



Reason for bringing these in, obviously, is that they are other wide bevels with thick spines and some interesting taper there. As such they are bound to figure in further discussion here.

Finally, a surprise guest:






_(Echizen, Japan) Ittetsu 180mm Nakiri - Kurouchi Shirogami #1 - June 2021 _

Had a 180mm Gyuto of these too, sold like a year ago, with pretty much the very same grind. Forged by Tadayoshi Kajiwara in Echizen and sharpened by Abe-San, former head sharpener for Yoshimi Kato. Ittetsu KU have little to do with your typical Y. Kato knives however, and being wide bevels, they still find purchase here for comparative purposes. They are pretty rough, nowhere near the level of all those above including Mazaki (although their monopiece walnut handle is MUCH better than the PoS on my Maz and most Ho wood out of Sanjo), still they cut quite nice OOTB. Let’s call them a control group…

Out of Sanjo as we are now, my closest next experience would be S. Tanaka A#2, which could have as much merit as Ittetsu as a control “group”… except that the stainless core side of S. Tanaka I experienced is more laser-ish with even thinner spines, further still from the gist of the knives above, and I’ve had none other A#2 (Migaki) to compare mine, and only few samples from vendor websites to triangle with and be sure they are consistently that thick and rather heavy – with Mazaki Migaki new profile for example, my favorite vendor had weighed all 12 units in 210mm he received after me expressing “some doubt”  with the weight vs. spine thickness he had listed: he actually sent me a picture with a post-it marked with weight on all twelve boxes, which I found amazing of him, but then again he’s the best.

So in the end, the pair of Ittetsu by representation was granted the “honor”… of being compared with much greater knives than they are or even aim to be. Admittedly, my S. Tanaka would have yield a much better performance account for a control group, but in the end I think the Ittetsu are more interesting in relative grind and spinal taper “similarities”.


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## ModRQC (Oct 31, 2021)

PROFILES AND TAPER (GYUTOS ONLY)

We’re focusing on closer comparisons to the Wakui now, hence I thought important to bring in some original specs as well.

It’ll be: Handle - Weight / Balance - Edge length - Heel Height - Thickness Heel / Tip






_Toyama Noborokoi: D-shape Ho/Horn - 174g / +30 - 210 - 50 - 4.1 / 1.4

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_Yoshikane SKD Tsuchime: D-shape Ho/Horn - 140g / +25 - 214 - 47 - 3.9 / 0.7

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_M. Hinoura (Hinode): Octagonal Ho/Horn - 209g / +40 - 243 - 50 - 3.7 / 1.2

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_Mazaki Migaki (Winter 2021): Octagonal Ho/Walnut - 157g / +20 - 216 - 50 - 4.8 / 0.5

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*Wakui KU-Nash

**_My newfound impatience with preliminary shootout before use is betrayed here. Thought my initial profile shot was fine, and used the knife right after I was done with pictures. 1-2 weeks later, I look at the shot on my PC monitor and the edge definition is mushy. Had to take another one – patina included._



Now with the oddballs:






_Shi.Han KU: Octagonal Ho/Horn - 195g / +40 - 211 - 50 - 3.2 / 1.3

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_Kawamura/Y. Tanaka: Octagonal Custom Maple Burl - 232g / +35 - 243 - 54 - 3.6 / 0.8

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So… Profiles are likeable or they’re not depending on preferences. In my opinion all those work well to most extents but for Yoshikane whose flat spot feels like a dead spot to me. I’m not in love neither with Toyama Santoku-ish nose, but edge profile was nice and natural to work with. And where I always found the Kawamura to have an odd blade shape, it did bridge a narrower tip area to a high heel area while keeping the tip low and the edge profile translating into a very long, efficient and natural “flat” spot. I guess weirdest looking shape remains with the Mazaki, and it works real well for me. Shi.Han’s was quite without a decent flat spot OOTB but it changed quite some since. YMMV.

As for taper, palm goes to Mazaki for sure, who puts “crazier” in Sanjo taper, not only out the handle to heel area, but also tip area taper. It’s like his own more daring calculation of a mathematical Sanjo taper like Wakui: tip area more than _a third_ of heel area, very tip _a third_ of tip area; nominally, 4.8 / 2 / 1.5 / 0.5 was my complete measurement of it. Not much taper in the grind though.

Yoshikane sure has some sex appeal in that field, with a nice Sanjo heel area but a more gradual tapering throughout, and quite a fine tip too. Yoshis also tend to present some taper in the grind and easily take the second place here.

Third place is a three-way tie in my opinion with Wakui, Kawamura/Y. Tanaka and Shi.Han. Wakui deserves its place on the podium alongside Mazaki and Yoshikane: since both Wakui and Mazaki were apprentices with Yoshikane to start with, it just figures they’re bound to reproduce some of the good things, and it really would come third out of only Sanjo knives here anyway. As noted with the specs grid, Wakui has a nice taper in the grind too. However, if the Wakui, then something could be said for the usually finely gradual taper of Y. Tanaka blades, especially with the Kawamura one – probably because it was the thickest and longest to start with of three Y. Tanaka I experienced. It sure doesn’t exactly have the Sanjo thing going on, but has a really nice thing going on nevertheless with some grind taper and a fine tip.

The Shi.Han then might seem like stretching out things a bit with its blunt thickness and mild taper, yet it DOES have a gradual taper not unlike Y. Tanaka combined into a thickness more reminiscent of Sanjo. Magnificent food release and the rather thick tip still surprisingly efficient strike me as essential qualities to what otherwise is best described as the only knife I know that ever could flog the horses out of the “workhorse” category: it’s a heavyset cutting machine of outstanding authority and robustness that still manages just enough eloquence and finesse to shine in cuts. I mean, your next best bet is either a clunker for a tough beater knife, or one of the mid tiers here for cutting ability… An almost paradoxical knife, so extreme that set of attributes, and it’s not much surprising then to find that despite being the shallowest spine at heel of all here but our Ittetsu control group it feels much meatier than most except for the Kawamura perhaps.

Finally, a well-deserved token to the Toyama for just being about the best OOTB cutter of them all in my opinion, despite landing about on par with the Hinode as least exciting Sanjo taper here.

As an add-on, a comparison of spine taper of my former Maz Nakiri (KU, Winter 2020), my actual Ittetsu Nakiri, and the spine of a Winter 2021 slimmer Mazaki Migaki Nakiri adapted from my vendor’s pictures – just so our control group isn’t left out, and in comparing Nakiris the Ittetsu at least stand a chance to not look so out of place compared to even the master of Sanjo taper. Well… t’was the idea… you know…


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## ModRQC (Oct 31, 2021)

Wakui: Part 1 – Fit & Finish




It was love at first sight… and a thrill when I first got it in hand. Yet, in specs and pics just as in the flesh, there is nothing SO special about the Wakui, albeit there is at least a few very satisfying things still. Like… just about everything.








First it was picking it out of the box, and with my hand automatically nestling the handle and pinching the spine, I was sure of three things at once: choil and spine were perfectly rounded and welcoming; grip was comfortable and doubly secured from both the thickness and the highly textured finish which otherwise doesn’t feel rough in the slightest; balance was not exactly dangling, not exactly falling forward of my pinch, but just initiating a slide there. It’s the perfect balance to it – deadly aim in tip work and great momentum, yet also great control and relative nimbleness from being almost neutral in a natural pinch. In other words, you can definitely feel the heft forward of the blade, and that’s _very_ satisfying, but the handle provides with a perfect counterweight to the pinch.




While we’re there, the ebony octagonal is quite well fitted to the blade in size, looking real nice at it although it sure would be sexier if a bit longer and leaner, and it didn’t feel slippery even if finished a notch higher in grits than I prefer. It’s not the KnS affair, and the KnS affair is pretty good too (mostly from being indeed longer and leaner) but a few notches too smooth. Most importantly, there was nothing about it in handling the knife OOTB to disrupt that perfect feeling of steadiness, comfort and belonging of such a masterful blade. It’s a well sculpted, good quality, beautiful piece of Wa, and a clear positive towards a perfectly executed knife.







Mere seconds had passed, and with the strongly lingering presence of such a perfect fit for comfort and balance, I could only appreciate the finish more. It’s one of the most splendid knives I ever encountered F&F wise, with the great looking KU-Nash, a deeply textured media blasted bevel that looks and feel almost natural Kasumi, near perfect mirror polish without a single streak or scratch on the core, coupled with a clearly upwards and wavy clad line – although there IS that spot at the very heel on the left side where it’s rather brusquely and ungainly falling low-rider. I don’t expect much of any harm out of it.














In my usual review formula, the Wakui would thus have perfect score so far with a couple of criteria. So I didn’t stay much longer with taking pics or assessing. I was closing in fast on its first performance test by then, and that’s exactly where we’re heading now.


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## ModRQC (Oct 31, 2021)

Wakui: Part 2 – Performance & Patina




OOTB, the Wakui came with a tremendously good edge. Another Blue #2 that was also excellent OOTB was the Toyama. In fact, looking at Sanjo overall, I’ve had pretty good to excellent edges, making Sanjo a likely region where one gets consistently sharp knives OOTB in my experience. One Yoshikane Gyuto was the worst, but quite usable for a couple first drives. Still I sharpened it fast enough… making sure of something: coupled with the sharpening I did of the Yoshi Santoku, I can say their SKD-12 (A2) steel is consistently easy (and fun!) to sharpen.




From looking at the choil, I could somewhat compare the Wakui with either the Shi.Han (but the Wakui quite thinner BTE) or the Kawamura/Y. Tanaka (which has a sharper Shinogi). From this comparison, my preemptive assessment was that some minor wedging was likely. It always shows clearly when halving onions, which is something bound to happen very first prep I do with just about any Gyuto. 








So I chose onions that root to tail were about as high as my fist propped onto my thumb, with the idea of taking a picture of where the knife would wedge with minimal momentum in a pull cut and a push cut. And also take pictures of how much onion sticking I’d get with further dicing, while at it.




Thing is… there was never such pictures to take. The Wakui went through these two with only a hint of slowing down when Shinogi traveled through in push, and nothing of note in pull. In dicing, I had at the end but loose pieces mildly sticking here and there on the bevels and faces. I also did the same with such as tall yellow onion on the second prep, with the same results and lack of a picture to show something betraying wedging or average release. Speaking more broadly of food separation, the Wakui not only escapes immediate wedging, but in fact is quite a couple notches greater than what I expected of it from choil geometry. As for food release, we get very good behavior all around too, and as such performance with the Wakui yet again secured my complete admiration with it: it’s not the best I’ve known in separation or in release, but cumulates a higher average of both combined than most knives OOTB – making for an easy go-to knife towards most of any type of preps.




I used to talk a lot about maintenance, but just as much as I want to be thorough, it’s redundant. Let’s just say the Kurouchi is pretty impervious in this iron clad case, both to severe staining or fading under repeat wipes and washes, which is really nice. Much more interesting are a few dirty patina shots:







And there you have it: the Wakui iron clad A#2 – an almighty knife. It might seem like just a middle ground Sanjo, but from what little it gives to other Sanjos in my book, or all knives I ever used for that matter, there’s just no holding it back to be one of the very best ever, as much in cutting as for the whole package deal.




Another way to put this is that I find nothing to even half-seriously hold a grudge against, whereas I can easily point out dead seriously why even its closest contenders here have left me with something to be desired overall OOTB – hence most were sold. But before we get to any further discussing and comparing, let’s take a well-deserved break with a few cutting pics.


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## ModRQC (Oct 31, 2021)

Intermission: Wakui in action (OOTB edge)






_The follow up prep to the red onions pictured last post… 

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_Just poked a few times in the bigger pieces… 

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_A bit of fatty proteins…

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_… oh so properly dispatched with. 

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_Here, readying for a bunch of different ingredients than above…

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_Topped off carrots…

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_… halved lengthwise.

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_Topped off bell pepper – I just love that shot.

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_Sliced green scallion… 

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_Fresh garden tomatoes quartered, sliced and scraped off board with the spine - reserved for a salad._


Especially fun was portioning some pork loins into smaller roasts for freezing. I mean, wished it was a 240mm then, but the (mostly single slices) cuts were really satisfying. Sorry – didn’t take pics that time around. Pics above were two of the 3 or 4 first preps done with the Wakui – after that I couldn’t be bothered anymore despite all my best intentions to try and provide more interesting food prep shots.


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## ModRQC (Oct 31, 2021)

Wakui vs. All: Performance

Obviously, there are a lot of knives that can separate as well or better than the thicker convex/wide bevels we have here, but within this category we get to look at how well a knife that compromises some food separation (or not) can cut and give us some improved characteristics in return; then see if, within the different balance each achieves, we should call them great or not so great.

To me, there are at least one out of two performance characteristics someone is bound to seek with buying such knives: some measure of power (for lack of a better word to convey, in no particular order nor strict necessity, a combination of things like toughness/sturdiness, heft/forward heaviness, authority/presence, etc.); some enhanced food release. The outline of what we call a Workhorse is easily discernible here, but not necessarily interchangeable – and in my case, not especially sought after. There’s also a notion of comfort with thicker spines, but then again I don’t think it’s necessary to go Sanjo thick for that: focus there would be more of an inclination for extra meaty spines, which to me is sort of included within the notion of power.

With such concerns of food separation vs. food release vs. power vs. workhorse use, I’ll go over all knives quickly:





Mazaki Nakiri: whereas it could exhibit some wedging, it had nice food separation and nice food release overall, especially when its natural momentum was put to use. I’ve not hold of much knives containing such reserves of power, and where it’s difficult to envision shorter knives as workhorse, this one was sure one beast of a Nakiri. The equilibrium between separation and release was fair at worse, downright great when letting its weight forward do the cut. Tip was brilliant for a Nakiri.






Yoshikane Santoku/Gyuto: we’d rather need to look at a group of knives of the laser kind to compare, for that’s how Yoshi cuts: amazingly effortlessly. It sure is a very good choice for someone hunting for laser operation with a thick spine for extra comfort. However, it’s pretty much where it stops in this comparison: the Yoshikane doesn’t sacrifice much of any performance in food separation, but food release is laser-poor, and there’s not much weight or power to them, while making them into a workhorse is the most ridicule proposition – especially with Gyutos so short at heel, but mainly because they’re crazy thin BTE and prone to chips/deformation. Both Santoku and Gyuto have a dead flat spot that is bound to please some, but not everyone; the Santoku’s was less of a hindrance overall in this regard to me. Both were pretty splendid with tip work and quite nimble.






Toyama Gyuto: this one is a pretty awesome performance overall. In food separation, it holds up some even to Yoshikane while having a much better notion of food release. It does also provide well with powerful feeling operations, but a focus with thinness BTE perhaps does not make it a prime Workhorse candidate - although it is much more otherwise geared towards it than any Yoshikane, it still felt a bit brittle to me. Splendid tip work also. Would easily recommend it to anyone looking into a powerhouse prioritizing food separation and release more than sheer toughness. You could sort of look at it as a Yoshikane on steroids – a very good proposition, that.






Hinode Gyuto: I thought the wedging I experienced was acceptable for better food release… but it so happens that OOTB, this one had a real problem with sticky-sucky beveling/blasted finish – to the point that even stuff hitting the Shinogi in full would tend to contour to it and keep on nagging at me. For smaller stuff, food separation was excellent, but often stickier than ever. In the end, more momentum than I cared for was the only thing to minimize these effects, or a session of bulk cutting where food would push food up and out in the end, and where using more momentum was a natural thing. At that it was mighty good, and if a workhorse doesn’t need to be especially tall to please you, it can take a powerful stance. Very thin BTE yet tough in my use, it sure didn’t lack of anything much to hit the top.






Mazaki Gyuto: treating it differentially to the Nakiri since Maz new profiles also come with thinner grinds. I expect an old Gyuto of his would much more fall into what I said about the Nakiri than about this one here. If Yoshikane is the outlier “Sanjo laser” of this comparison, then Maz Gyuto “New Profile” (Migaki – I think KUs are thicker/heavier in average) is more the middle of the road thing, and still a bit of an outlier. Maz has good separation, average release, but better than Yoshikane. Many KKFers reported exactly to the contrary with theirs (poorer separation, good release), which is logical where most also said it needed thinning: a thicker BTE might enhance release - mine was pretty thin OOTB. Sturdy knife in my use, but deceivingly light for thickness: for sheer power or workhorse use I’d definitely look elsewhere.

Wakui Gyuto: strikes all the cords and then some: good separation, consistently great release, heavy and powerful, can do workhorse. Still all along this review we get to see that it’s not the best of any performance characteristic: as I hinted at earlier, its superiority is with cumulating better than average performance combining all without making much of any compromise to be so good – except that it sure is no laser, obviously.

I’ve actually to get out of Japan entirely to find the Wakui a deadly rival – of itself. However, if separation is a priority, and looking into some powerhouse of a knife still, Toyama truthfully is the only Sanjo equal to it, the tradeoff pretty obvious where its great food separation (and related outstanding general behavior) comes at the price of the Wakui’s resilience in abuse (and related outstanding general behavior) – and vice versa.

Now, out of Sanjo at least, we have:






Kawamura/Y. Tanaka Gyuto: probably the archetypal Workhorse, and quite a powerfully gifted knife in that regard. There was some real bit of wedging to it, but pretty good release also, and a fine tip with excellent abilities. Used with its natural momentum it’s an unstoppable bulk cutter that can still manage more refined cutting with ease and gusto. My main gripe was just it being too much of a knife to fit my use well - selling it a first step into admitting 240mm Gyutos were not for me in general use, for it’s been my favorite one ever. Much nimbler in operations than bulk and heft could ever suggest, and I think it’s as worthy a contender to the Wakui than the Toyama, each with different aspects to make them shine.

Then completely out Japan (but the maker partially trained there) we get to THE knife that in my experience no other can beat to be as special and thrilling and as close to perfect (with work):






_Shi.Han Choil shot - Nowadays_

Shi.Han Gyuto (Old Stock) – even where what follows are OOTB considerations, my enthusiasm with the Shi.Han is ridiculously disproportioned to any other, so taming it as best as I can here we are: food separation was nice, counting with the unavoidable deal of wedging (and lots of carrots cracking etc.), and especially tip work was eons better than a first appraisal of the whole blade would have one believe, but none of it was optimal with thickness BTE out of the box for sure. Food release however was fantastic, and where any listed or unlisted “power” characteristics or workhorse use are concerned, I’ve already said my bit earlier: “only knife to ever flog horses out of ‘workhorse’ yadda yadda yadda”. It’s not only a matter of heft, but also one of toughness of the steel: Sheehan’s 52100 HT is a top class act.





_Shi.Han Profile - Nowadays_








_Ittetsu Nakiri 180mm: and a look at the finish with these, making up for their absence in pics next post_

Then for both Ittetsu: somewhat good separation, nowhere as good as the Hinode COULD be but less wedging overall. Release is somewhat average – again Hinode could do as much. These Ittetsu are not without some sense of power, more than Yoshikane for sure, but from there to workhorse is a huge leap to take… Fatter spine at heel does yield them the minimum higher comfort and higher weight than a lot of J-knives, so within this comparison their odds aren’t so bad; still, overall and within a wide enough sample of knives, they’re better defined by middle of the road behavior.





_Ittetsu Gyuto 180mm – in action

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So our top contenders for performance are the Wakui, Toyama, Kawamura, old profile Mazaki and Shi.Han, with each owning up to mostly positive attributes fitting our category. Outside of such concerns, obviously Yoshikane are excellent performers also. New profile Mazaki, Hinode, Ittetsu, they’re all good knives, but no top performers of any category in my book.

Again, YMMV.


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## ModRQC (Oct 31, 2021)

Wakui vs. All: F&F

Where blade finish is concerned, obviously the Ittetsu are pretty rough, but mostly all knives here do relatively well: we have smoothed spines and choils everywhere (to varying degrees), with Yoshikane a bit half-hearted, Mazaki Nakiri more intent, Toyama somewhat better and about same ballpark as Hinode, bringing up the rear.





_Mazaki Migaki Gyuto (Spring 2021) – rounded choil and spine_


New Mazaki Migaki is another step above… And then Shi.Han, Kawamura and Wakui were just great – Kawamura was actually a crowned spine and choil done to pretty high standards.






_Kawamura/Y. Tanaka Damascus Gyuto – crowned choil and spine_


Aesthetically speaking, I like the KUs best: Maz Nakiri, Shi.Han, Hinode, Wakui, and even the Ittetsu for that matter, were all pleasing, but especially the Wakui and Hinode, and if I’d get to choose it would be the Hinode – hard to explain how this one felt so damn beautiful and powerful to me, yet I still remember it vividly.






_Hitohira Hinode Kurouchi Gyuto – Finish_


I was also quite fond of Toyama and Mazaki Migaki hand finish. I like simplicity, so I guess it explains why all of the above worked best for me. Not a fan of the Kawamura Damascus, just marketing bling with no soul, but in person it was mostly forgettable and didn’t hinder cutting or release in noticeable ways. The worse is Yoshikane Tsuchime, which looks and feels cheaper than all others by a wide margin; and with the Gyuto I had a ton of scratches, spots and blemishes on top of that. Santoku was pretty neat though.






_Toyama Kasumi Gyuto – Finish

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Now for handles, if I had to be stuck with any of the various Ho here, it would BE the Shi.Han’s. It was one of the only Ho wood I ever encountered that was quality made and well fitted in size to the blade – another rare example being Konosuke HD2. However, balance was much too forward to be likeable, so it’s also one I eventually changed.






_Shi.Han (Old Stock) Kurouchi Gyuto – Original Ho_


If not that one, then the Mazaki Nakiri and Hinode ones were on the better side with a bit of work – but in the Hinode’s case, didn’t fit so well for balance, whereas in the Maz case it fitted that Nakiri perfectly. I do like these to be balanced clearly ahead of the pinch.

Of course, we all know the Maz Migaki Ho/Walnut handle is a PoS. The same applies, even if these are much more licked, to Toyama and Yoshikane’s D-Shape handles (pretty sure they’re the very same thing). Maz Migaki has a nice balance point to it, and Yoshikane Santoku blade heaviness made sense with (Nakiri-like) blade width; however the Yoshikane Gyuto was a bit too blade heavy to fit it so well, and the Toyama was much too forward even where some blade heaviness is desirable in its case.

On the much better side the Wakui looks pretty lonely with its close to perfect Ebony. I’d say, fit one of the sort on the Toyama and you’d get a very similar overall weight and balance point than the Wakui. Of course the Kawamura had a custom handle, which I didn’t particularly care for the bling of it, but it was quite beautiful admittedly, and the kind that could balance such a monster blade perfectly, so it was a good thing.






_Kawamura/Y. Tanaka Damascus Gyuto – Vendor-custom Maple Burl/Spalted_


Speaking of handles, I hate narrow necks. Just hate them completely. Yoshikane and Toyama are good examples to direct such hatred at. Mazaki Migaki was barely acceptable. Even the much wider neck of the Wakui gave me pause before buying it: I tend to only buy full machi nowadays…

So with this overview of F&F in mind, we come back around our top performers…






Mazaki Nakiri – hard for me to say how the new KUs compare with this old one, but if my Migaki Gyuto is anything to go by, forget about the kind of performance I have in mind when electing the Nakiri amongst the top ones here. But it was a great Sanjo sample indeed, strong performance, excellent KU finish, neat if blunt F&F for a ridiculously low price. There are also good chances seeing one of these over BST.







Shi.Han: it’s a bit like the Mazaki Nakiri – hard for me to compare with how Shi.Han forges and grinds these nowadays, and how it feels to get them with a better handle, better balance and better separation performance OOTB. One thing that would worry me with the newer ones would be a definitive loss in food release. Another is that it wouldn’t be so extreme and feel so special anymore. One thing is sure: F&F will be great with any of them and KU finish is top class, simple and sober but eloquently mastered with great consistency. To be honest, while I really like the improvements Shi.Han has brought since (mostly in adapting with his customers feedback) and think they make a lot of sense since they’re basically everything that I’ve done myself with mine, I’m just glad I could land an older one.







Kawamura, beyond being too much of a knife for me, is a pretty amazing cutter with outstanding level of F&F. That one would care for the extra bling of it or not, price is pretty in line with other offers forged by Y. Tanaka, and there are good reasons to pick it up: it’s a taller, thicker, “full length” heavyweight powerhouse Y. Tanaka blade with an excellent edge profile and nothing serious to complain about much. I sometimes pondered over grabbing one in 210mm, but I don’t think it would be nearly as good and fun in a shorter stance, and I’d be real wary to get one with a lower shinogi for similar thickness.






Toyama: on the one hand, an almost impossibly balanced food powerhouse/laser-like cutter with nice release; on the other hand, average F&F, terrible handle, excessive forward balance. YMMV may vary with balance. To me, the narrow AND short neck and rather “L” shaped choil ended up killing the deal: there was nothing much I could do about it, hence I sold it. Mind you, it’s one of very few knives I sort of regret selling even where I know I did for good reasons. And would I have it back, I would still sell it back again for the same reasons, and would feel some regrets again.


Wakui: so very solid overall F&F combined with so very solid overall performance – pretty powerful combo for so very reasonable money. I guess the only compromise is the lack of some really unique attribute: this Wakui or the Hinoura AS SS-Clad Ku-Nash would be mistaken one for another at any first glance, so there’s that.


I don’t think I need to elect winners out of these. To me they are the Shi.Han, then the Wakui, then the Toyama, but I can see very good reasons, within various frames of mind concerning compromises each has, to score a unit of any of them under any form and length that pleases one with more heavyset knives.


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## ModRQC (Oct 31, 2021)

Wakui: Sharpening

From my front end preference in use, tip area was the first warning that the OOTB edge would need work soon. It withstood three weeks of various, sometimes more abusing home preps, within which timeframe it was the only knife I used except for petty work and some deboning, say 10-12 hours of use total as I don’t get to cook every day, and mostly deal with day to day prep when I do. At which point all it needed was but a mild touch up, but I rather went to dull the whole edge on the side of my Kit 8K: after some four or five light swipes, it was still sort of cutting, but rather sort of messing up printer paper. Which is saying something about retention capabilities of this knife, and which allowed me to really get a decently complete sharpening experience out of it, but to yet postpone any BTE maintenance.

SG500 met some nice resistance in cutting an edge bevel a tad more acute on the right side and get me the consistent burr I was after – this is no mellow Blue #2 – but mirroring it on the left side was a speedier process of utmost ease. Deburring was quite simple – more than I expected out of it. Switched to Ouka for a true refining with bite, then finished/stropped on Kit 8K and some newspaper.

Used a couple of times since with great effect, dicing onions ridiculously more seamless than OOTB from the finer edge, tip work now properly thrilling and making me admire the performance of that knife even more. I’m starting to really dig Kit 8K for a fine edge, too. Better, more refined stuff than Morihei 4K can do, with more convincing aggressiveness as well – and really, really fast at work for grits.

What can I say for sure? It’s more than good enough, hard enough, easy to deburr enough.


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## Jovidah (Nov 1, 2021)

Thanks a lot. You come with this just after I finally ponied up the discipline to _not _buy a Wakui...


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## ModRQC (Nov 1, 2021)

Sometimes, life is hard that way... 

Well if you get the gist of it, you might have excellent reasons to keep sober. Then again, you might have excellent reasons to relapse too.


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## daniel_il (Nov 2, 2021)

Loved the f&f, the convex grind and the nashiji cladding. 

it might gonna be too hard to resist although I’m more of a 240 user.

thank you for the review, thanks to you I will have to spend some money on the wakui or shihan


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## Lakeshow (Nov 3, 2021)

always appreciate your reviews. Wakui a lil short for my liking but def making me want to try out a toyama. Thanks for the read.


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## runninscared (Nov 29, 2021)

what an excellent in depth review. i got a wakui in shiro 2 off BST a few months ago and have really enjoyed it. one of my favorites for sure, with munetoshi/yoshikane rounding out the top of my lineup.

ooc have you tried munetoshi yet? absolutely love mine.


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## ModRQC (Nov 29, 2021)

They've... been a point of interest. Since they're so readily available, and W#2 iron clad no favorite construction of mine, I've put it off time and again. Also, if details matter, I am no fan of narrow necks and L shaped choils.

I'd definitely get the Wa Butcher, if one of his. Makes total sense and looks like fun. One of these days I just might.


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