SEKI KANETSUGU

Based in the knife making capital of Japan (Seki City, Gifu Prefecture), Seki Kanetsugu was founded in 1918 by Matsujiro Kawamura, descendant of the famous swordsmith Kanetsugu, who worked during Nanboku-cho period. The Zuiun line was made for the 100th anniversary of the company and features an R2(SG2) steel core, with a stainless damascus cladding, and a heptagonal (7-sided) handle made from pakkawood, which I find fantastically comfortable and unique, and especially good for the finger on the spine technique which I like to use for intricate slicing tasks. The blades are quite thin at 1-1.5 mm spines in this line and feature a very mild convex grind, helping a great deal with food release. The Sauin line is made from VG-10, with a flashy damascus aesthetic, sporting a heftier hybrid western style micarta handle.