NKD Takada no Hamono Ginsan Suiboku Gyuto & First Impressions
Specs:
Brand/Line/Makers : Takada no Hamono Suiboku (smith/sharpener : Satoshi Nakagawa/Mitsuaki Takada)
Profile & length : Gyuto 240mm
Construction & steel : San-mai Ginsan core and soft stainless steel cladding
Handle: ebony with water buffalo horn ferrule in a beautiful ivory/almost pure white tone.
Grind: superb convex, almost perfectly symmetrical (see choil shot - a word about this below)
Blade measurements : edge length ~225mm / height at the heel 48.6mm / spine thickness heel : 2.7mm - mid : 1.9mm - 1cm from tip : 0.4mm
Weight: 183g (quick word about this and the significant impact a handle can have in that space: my Suiboku Blue #2 has a magnolia and horn handle and it comes at 133g - which is incredibly light for a 240mm - and given its blade measurements most of that 50gr difference would come from the handle)
Balance point: at the choil (see pic), the handle weights strongly and there is nothing blade forward about that knife
First impressions:
I have been after the Ginsan version of the Suiboku for a while (I think I started chasing it more actively about a year ago) so I was thrilled to finally got the chance to own, and more importantly, use this one! I wanted BNIB and ideally a handle to my taste (since Takada-san epoxy his handles making them a lot more heartbreaking to swap, I wanted to avoid the scenario). One finally popped on the secondary market, and I bought it in a bundle of 4 knives (see my previous post in early Jan, some of these will get released to purchase other knives more my speed). I already had a Takada no Hamono Aogami#2 240mm Gyuto (forged by Nakagawa as well) and I will draw a few comparisons in this write-up, to be taken with a grain of salt since the Aogami#2 was pre-owned, had been used/sharpened etc a fair bit, and did not come to me in the best conditions - rust on both cladding and edge etc.
Let’s start with the main differentiating factor of these knives against the other high end Japanese knives of the market: the F&F. The blade’s Suiboku finish is, as most here would know, unique to Takada-san, and, while his exact process is unknown, a well regarded KKF member into polishing (Blumbo) has recreated a finish close enough that it kind of confirms what most of us suspects: it seems to be obtained through a cycle of a hand polishing and chemical etching. The finish itself is beautiful, hard to describe (and to capture in photos) but I’d call it a glossy and slightly grainy (in appearance) Kasumi. It’s not overdone and subtle, making for an elegant experience. I note as well that between the Blue#2 carbon cladding and the Ginsan soft stainless cladding, the finish while similar is slightly different, with the carbon being a bit more defined/textured. No scratch or any form of defect to be seen on the blade, the spine is rounded and polished, the choil is mirror polished and very comfortable. The engraving/stamp is clear and of consistent depth. As far as I am concern, the blade F&F is S tier. The handle is beautiful, and of excellent manufacture (wood and horn perfectly flush), and I note that this ebony must have been sanded and polished beyond even my Taihei handles, or oiled/treated in a way it feels incredibly smooth (I am used to very high quality handles and I am picky about them, and I am quite impressed). Special shout out to the ferrule tone, it’s one of the whitest water buffalo horn ferrule I have ever seen and it’s contrast with the black ebony is great aesthetically in my opinion. Fitment of the handle is my only (small) grievance here, the blade is very slightly tipped backward and I would have preferred a perfectly straight fitment. Now, it’s not a huge angle, and some people may actually like it (some makers actually fit that way on purpose - though I don’t think that’s the case with Takada: my Aogami#2 is straight) since it makes the blade feels a bit taller than it actually is (and it’s not a particularly tall blade here). Rest of the fitment is good: flush at the tang, no glue/epoxy pouring out of the handle, well sealed etc.
In terms of steel, not much to say, it’s Nakagawa’s infamous Ginsan, and I have half a dozen of his in different profile or grinds, I have nothing but good things to say about it. The edge OOTB was nicely polished and sharpened, and it was cutting free hanging paper towel nice and clean. I gave it a very quick strop loaded with diamond emulsion prior to taking it to the veggies but it was honestly not necessary and did not lead to a significant difference. I did not take it to the stones yet, but I am not expecting it to be any different from my other Nakagawa Ginsan knives, which I enjoy sharpening quite a bit!
Let’s talk geometry! As can be seen through the pictures and the measurements, the distal taper is as much as you’d expect from Sakai, but there is a little bit of it, it’s very smoothly executed and progressive, down to a very very very thin tip (probably competing as one of the 5 thinnest tips in my collection, I was actually quite surprised it was that thin as it does not feel overly delicate to me). The heel at 48.6mm is on the short side for a 240mm compared to other contemporary knives, though it is not unusual with Nakagawa’s blades (my other Takada is actually even shorter at 47.7mm, maybe a little height lost to sharpening from the previous owner but it would not be much as it does not need thinning). The extra tall heels fad is a relatively recent trend and I never fully bought into it personally; I don’t have giant hands and 46mm is all I need for knuckle clearance and for most tasks, while my soft spot is probably around 50-52mm but 48-50mm like here is fine by me. The blade is also relatively short in length as well at 225mm (which I quite like, great compromise between long enough while staying nimble), expected from Sakai but a hair shorter than my Togashi or other Hitohira 240mm Gyuto and consistent to the millimeter with my Aogami #2 Suiboku. The profile is very nice and balanced with a decent flat spot but not as long as say my Togashi Blue#1 (I personally prefer the Togashi’s profile). A sidenote on the grind being symmetrical, my other Takada, is actually right hand biased and from my readings and data collection, Takada’s grind often is, so it was a bit of a surprise as I was expecting a light right-hand bias (though it does not matter much imo).
Cutting performance : I have been using it as my main knife home for about a week now and I’ll be direct here, while this is a high end performance cutter, it’s not my best/favorite in that space. It actually does not make it to my top 3, and I’d even go as far as saying that I might prefer my HD2 by a hair in cutting feel, balance, and perf in most ingredients (bearing in mind the HD2 is a Nakiri which really goes well with my cutting style and most of what I cut in prep). Don’t get me wrong, it is excellent, but I feel like it is fair to balance out what the hype makes it out to be versus real life experience. Takada-san does a superb job, but he is not a magician and while the fit&finish is near perfect and unique, the grind itself is not so different in performance than say a good ol’ Ashi Ginga or a Konosuke HD2 in my experience, and I slightly prefer Myojin and Kyuzo (bearing in mind that each knife varies and performs uniquely, in particular for Kyuzo whose grinds evolved a fair bit over the years).
I ran it through potatoes, shallots, mushrooms, carrots, celeri, onions (mandatory OCD’d mirepoix picture available) and it did very well in all of them. Everything went as I expected given the geometry (no surprise or oh! moment), good on both draw and push cuts, very good on straight speed chopping potatoes in terms of cutting, not so much in food release (maybe a hair better than my thinner Myojin like my Kikuchiyo x Izo). Not much weight to assist the cut, it’s a very light blade and there is no blade forward assistance with the heavy handle, so you are in control and you put the strength you need (which is not much given that you don’t push much material in the ingredient with such a thin geometry). One area where it really shines for me is the tip-work; that thing is thin thin and, accordingly, murders shallots (and onions if you let it have fun and predominantly use the tip to draw cut your vertical cuts). I’ll say it did feel a bit delicate when cutting through the entire celery bunch to remove the bottom part (that goes in the stock!). Ofc, no wedging whatsoever in anything, as expected at this thinness at the spine and with a nice smooth convex thin behind the edge (Ashi? Is that you?). A very enjoyable cutting feel all in all.
TLDR: very happy to count it in my line up. A superb knife aesthetically and performance wise. Not my best cutter or my favorite profile, but probably one of - if not the - prettiest blades I have home at the moment. Small defect in handle fitment with the spine tilting very slightly backward.
As always, I hope you enjoyed the read, ask me anything you want about that beauty!