Sign in
Registration
Product detail
Company Hokiyama Cutlery from the legendary area Tosa celebrated its centenary in 2019. The current owner and grandson of the founder Shinsuke Hokiyama has carefully prepared for this important milestone. For several years, he developed a new line of knives included in a line aptly named Tosa-Ichi.
Japanese knife experts know that Tosa is an ancient designation for the area occupying the southern part of Shikoku Island. It is a place known for a large number of smaller blacksmith workshops. If you want to experience the atmosphere of knife production in the traditional way, you will not miss a trip to Kochi Prefecture. The answer to the question why local production is so different from other areas such as Seki or Tsubame / Sanjo is not complicated at all. On the way to Kochi, you will notice that the entire prefecture is "thoroughly" isolated from the outside world. It is the Pacific Ocean on the south side and high mountains on the other. This specificity caused the area to develop in its own way, without the influences of the surrounding world. What may have been perceived as a disadvantage in the past is now exclusivity. After all, it is not at all easy to come across high-quality hand-forged knives with a price tag that does not ruin you.
Hokiyama Cutlery cooperates on the island with such masters as Tsutomu Kajiwara or Takeo Murata. Needless to say, these are absolute big names of their craft not only in the Tosa area, but throughout Japan. In addition to the finalization of knives from the mentioned masters, the company has its own development and production, including progressive "roll-forging" technology. The potential of the company is evidenced by the fact that it stood at the birth of the ceramic blades of Kyocera, damascene knives with ultra-hard high-speed tool steel cores as well as revolutionary carbide blades .
The group of knives grouped under the name Tosa-Ichi belongs to the traditional knives. The blades are made either by well-known masters from the Tosa area or directly by Hokiyama Cutlery. The cores are made exclusively of proven traditional high-carbon materials (most commonly Aogami 1,2 and Aogami Super).
Nippon Knives has the honor to present as one of the first stores the new Tosa-Ichi Shadow-Tsuchime Black knife. It is a knife that attracts at first sight. The cutting core is made of the best material you can imagine. Hitachi Ao Blue Super is a designation for the well-known Aogami Super. Its hardness is an uncompromising 64 HRC. In addition, it has a very favorable ratio between hardness and strength, which surpasses the properties of Aogami 1 and Aogami 2. As we are used to with blades San Mai , the core is protected on the sides by softer steel. Yes, you read that right. It is a steel with increased corrosion resistance and not conventional iron. This means that unlike other knives made of traditional high carbon steel, you don't have to take care of the entire blade. Just rub the edge itself with oil. The blade, as the name Black itself suggests, is in the kurouchi version, so it is unpolished black. If we take a closer look at it, we will decode the next part of the name. Tsuchime in Japanese means hammer blows. We have to admit that it looks really elegant and dynamic. The interface between the symmetrical edge and the body of the blade is a hand-sanded stripe, reminiscent of a shinogi of famous Japanese swords. In the final, the manufacturer punched the kanji signs Tosa Ichi Kage , i.e. the name Tosaichi Shadow.
The dark handle, of course in the shape of an octagon, is made of walnut wood. The manufacturer preferred a minimalist character and therefore did not use a ferrule. The knife therefore looks very simple and clean.
If you are looking for a traditional knife made of first-class materials, but you do not want to pay close attention to it, Tosa-Ichi Shadow-Tshuchime Black is the right choice.
©2010-2018 Copyright Roman Ulík, Nippon Knives, www.japonskenoze.sk all rights reserved
Photographs and texts are protected by copyright and their use is not possible without the author's consent.
About producer
Tosa is the ancient name of today's Kochi Prefecture, which is located in the southern part of the island of Shikoku. The north of the prefecture is made up of inhospitable mountains, which towards the south pass into a fertile plain filled with countless rice fields. They are protected from possible tsunami waves by barriers built on the beaches of the Pacific Ocean. Connoisseurs of Japanese blacksmithing will not call this area anything other than Tosa.
For more than 800 years, the interlaced steel made famous by samurai swords has been forged in Tosa. It can be said that this area has become a kind of "open-air museum" of traditional blacksmithing. You will find small workshops scattered here, in which individual family generations create gems that are incomprehensible to us. It is almost a rule that father and son work in the workshop to ensure the continuity of the tradition. All kinds of blades are made here, from agricultural tools to rare knives, but in a diametrically different way than in the Seki, Sakai, or Tsubame/Sanjo areas. Knives intended for decoration were never produced here, but durable work tools. That is why knives from Tosa are sought after by connoisseurs all over the world.
Since 1919, the Hokiyama Cutlery company has been among the pioneers in improving the traditional production of kitchen knives. In accordance with the motto "the good must be preserved and, if possible, also improved", Shinsuke Hokiyama created 3 lines in his company: traditional, practical and innovative.
The traditional line /Tosa-Ichi/ consists of hand-forged blades from such masters as Takeo Murata. It is a layered steel, the core of which is high-carbon shirogami or aogami type steel. Hitachi Blue Super is used for the best pieces. The blades are most often in the unpolished form of kurouchi. Knives require care, as this material is not anti-corrosive. The practical line /Sakon/ is a symbiosis of traditional production procedures with modern materials and design. In addition to high-carbon steel, very hard powder tool steel and damascene steel are also used. Emphasis is placed on precisely processed and ergonomically tuned handles. The innovative line /Mugen/ is the pride of Hokiyama Cutlery. It adopts advances from other fields into the production of its knives. These are mainly self-sharpening knives SAKON+ with the patented Vee-Tech technology taken from the aviation and space industry.
Friendly relations with the owner of Hokiyama Cutlery, Mr. Shinsuke Hokiyama, enabled us to gradually bring you the most interesting knives from the legendary Tosa region.
©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.
