Yu Kurosaki Senko Bunka 165mm

Yu Kurosaki

These are easily some of the most beautiful knives we have at the shop. Made by Master Blacksmith Yu Kurosaki who works out of a newly constructed shop just steps from the Takefu knife village community centre. He began his blacksmith journey in 2002 at Kanehiro and now only 17 short years later he has been awarded his Master Blacksmith designation by the Echizen Blacksmith Foundation. His knives represent the future of Blacksmithing in Japan as he focuses on traditional technique while using innovative and progressive design's and finishes that have garnered the attention of many chef's around the globe. Simply put his knives are stunning to look at and dare we say perform even better than they look.


Takefu Knife Village

The Takefu Knife Village is a cooperative workshop in the Echizen region of Japan. It is the home to a long list of blacksmiths that we work with and many young and upcoming apprentices learning the trade. The area has a 700 year long history of smithing with roots in agricultural tools turned cutlery powerhouse.

The Knife

This is a new line from Yu Kurosaki utilizing the roll forge technique which cuts down the cost, but you still get the great steel (R2/SG2), thin grind, and fit and finish of the Shizuku line. These fall into the laser category and while are more delicate than some other knives have a buttery smooth cutting feel due to the thinness behind the edge from the high bevel grinds. R2 is a powdered steel so it has a very fine and consistent grain structure and is one of our favorite stainless steels in the shop. Not only will it sharpen deceivingly fast for a stainless but the fine grain structure means it will benefit from being brought to a higher grit much like carbon steels. 

The bunka is a medium sized all purpose knife very similar to the santoku, the most popular knife in Japanese home kitchens, but with a more aggressive tip for the more detailed work. These guys can slice, dice, chop, and rock with the best of the and would be able to handle 99% of the tasks a home kitchen could throw at it, and can be great for a professional as the smaller size and lighter weight can reduce fatigue which is much more noticeable when swinging a knife around 8-10 hours a day.