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For obvious reasons, year 2020 cannot be described as great. But we are rightly very proud of some things that happened. One of them is the award for the Nippon Knives e-shop by Marusho Industry Inc., which through our company supplies to the Slovak market knives of the brand Zanmai a Mcusta. A single specimen of the Mcusta knife was made for this purpose especially for Nippon Knives.
The manufacturer made sure that this custom knife differed from normal production as much as possible and at the same time recalled the reason for its production. The decision fell on a compact knife with a fixed blade. Its essence is hidden in at first sight complicated name MCUSTA Limited Edition Urushi Art model "Asanoha". For the Japanese typical sense of practicality orders incorporating product features into its name and this case only confirms it. .
At the Mcusta brand, we used to the fact that they work only with premium materials. It is no different now. Basically construction is coreless plate formed by 30 layers of high-grade steels VG-10 and VG-1. So damascene is not only the blade but also the skeleton of the handle. If the side of the blade is straight steel with a gentle hand beating in its uppermost part, the one forming the skeleton of the handle is beautifully profiled. Thicker and thinner segments alternate here, which give the knife a dynamic accent. Let's add a mention of hamaguri blade and we can get started to pay attention to the main point.
You have probably encountered the term Urushi or Japanese lacquer. It is a traditional way of decorating jewelry and other small items such as cartridges, pens, jewelry boxes and so on. In Japan is used since the 7th century. Artists cover their drawings or marquetry with varnish obtained from the pulp of the Urushi/Chinese laqquer tree/. Shapes are created by painting, inserting mother-of-pearl, or the maki-e technique,when by using a bamboo tubes artists "spray" with their breath on the substrate with a urushipulp the pieces of gold or silver. There are several maki-e techniques which differ in the number of layers. The result is multidimensional decorative paintings.
Urushi Art is very popular in Japan. It requires however, a tremendous amount of skill and patience. After all, the production of small jewelry takes up to 26 days for the artist. A highly recognized public figure in the area of Urushi Art is the family company Hariya, which made this art since 1981. And it was this company that was invited to cooperate in production of this knife, as evidenced by its name engraved on the blade.
The handle, in addition to the Damascene coreless material, consists of wood from Japanese persimmon. Artists from Hariya applied on it the traditional pattern from 24 carat gold Asanoha. Very often you can find it on a Japanese kimono, but also on a modern design products. In the middle of the individual flowers, they inserted more or less strong colorful points. When moving in the light, the projection of colorful lights is made, which resembling LEDs. To understand how it is possible to achieve by manual work perfection like this is beyond our imagination.
The knife is of course wrapped in a wooden cassette from paulownia / kirbako/. Attached certificate confirms the production of a single piece, exclusively for Nippon Knives. Talking about a price that, by the way, reminds the date of the Great French Revolution is completely unnecessary in this case. And that is because it only suggests its value.
© 2020 Copyright Roman Ulík, Nippon Knives, www.japonskenoze.sk, all rights reserved.
Photos and the texts are protected by copyright and their use is not possible without the author's consent.
About producer
The manufacturer of iconic MCUSTA knives is Marusho Industry Inc. from Seki City in Gifu Province. Any connoisseur of Japanese knives knows that this is a prominent area with more than 700 years of tradition. The Hasegawa family clan has been producing the most sophisticated pocket knives you can find here for three generations.
Marusho Industry Inc. has a rarely seen production background in this industry. Since we are lucky, or rather honored, to be a family friend of the Hasegawas, we did not miss the opportunity to tour their factory. We start with the design and construction section, where experienced programmers prepare algorithms for modern CNC machines. The most elegant materials that you can only imagine in a cutlery shop are casually resting in the entrance warehouse. VG-10 steel sheets from nearby Takefu, 33-layer damascene sheets, aluminum alloys, rare woods and high-quality micarta. Laser cutters and CNC mills work in the machining section. However, the most interesting thing for us is the finalization of the knives and their subsequent sharpening. Here, on the contrary, everything is done manually. Even the president of the company, Tomohiro Hasegawa, sits down at the rotating grindstone and skillfully shapes the razor blade. This is followed by a final inspection, where each knife is carefully examined and travels to the dispatch warehouse. The whole world is supplied from there. Today, you will hardly find a brand that is still produced in its country of origin. MCUSTA is among those that have retained this privilege.
©2010-2018 Copyright Roman Ulík, Nippon Knives, www.japonskenoze.sk all rights reserved.
Photos and texts are protected by copyright law and their use without the author's consent is not possible.
