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Makoto Kurosaki Spotlight
Makoto Kurosaki isn't actually a blacksmith, he is however a very talented sharpener. While there are smiths who both forge and sharpen themselves its not uncommon for shops to have dedicated members to each part of the production wether that be smithing, sharpening, polishing, attaching handles or the final edge sharpening of the knife!
While both of the Kurosaki brothers have seen great success, Makoto started his journey later in life and a lot of his work has largely flown under the radar as he's been sharpening knives for smiths like Yoshimi Kato (whos shop he used to work out of, until he recently opened his own shop), Takumi Ikeda and his brother Yu.
Having opened his own shop he doesn't sharpen under other smiths as often anymore, though still can been seen doing work with Yu Kurosaki, Yoshimi Kato and a few others, instead he buys forged knives from smiths in the Echizen region and works his magic to make them his own.
While its the smiths job to forge weld, draw the knife into a rough shape, and heat treat the steel, even with an incredibly talented smith there is a lot of work left to do in what vaguely resembles a knife.
Makotos style of sharpening is a favorite for a lot of people, us at the shop included. His knives are thin, but not TOO thin to the point of being delicate. And while he works with many steel types you will more often than not find him working with stainless, R2(SG2) primarily in our experience, which adds the the toughness of the thin grinds.
His Style-K line (seen below) is his most popular line of knives for both of the reasons above, and arguably one of the best value-for-money knives we carry in the shop. Such a high performing knife, low maintenance, great edge retention and tougher than you'd expect from a Japanese knife make these a first pick for both professional settings, and home cooks with some apprehension towards moving into Japanese cutlery due to fear of how delicate they can be. While there definitely are knives the lean towards the more delicate laser side of things, Makoto's work have workhorse strength with a midweight cutting feel that we just can't get enough of.
While both of the Kurosaki brothers have seen great success, Makoto started his journey later in life and a lot of his work has largely flown under the radar as he's been sharpening knives for smiths like Yoshimi Kato (whos shop he used to work out of, until he recently opened his own shop), Takumi Ikeda and his brother Yu.
Having opened his own shop he doesn't sharpen under other smiths as often anymore, though still can been seen doing work with Yu Kurosaki, Yoshimi Kato and a few others, instead he buys forged knives from smiths in the Echizen region and works his magic to make them his own.
While its the smiths job to forge weld, draw the knife into a rough shape, and heat treat the steel, even with an incredibly talented smith there is a lot of work left to do in what vaguely resembles a knife.
Makotos style of sharpening is a favorite for a lot of people, us at the shop included. His knives are thin, but not TOO thin to the point of being delicate. And while he works with many steel types you will more often than not find him working with stainless, R2(SG2) primarily in our experience, which adds the the toughness of the thin grinds.
His Style-K line (seen below) is his most popular line of knives for both of the reasons above, and arguably one of the best value-for-money knives we carry in the shop. Such a high performing knife, low maintenance, great edge retention and tougher than you'd expect from a Japanese knife make these a first pick for both professional settings, and home cooks with some apprehension towards moving into Japanese cutlery due to fear of how delicate they can be. While there definitely are knives the lean towards the more delicate laser side of things, Makoto's work have workhorse strength with a midweight cutting feel that we just can't get enough of.
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