June 8, 2014

Five Custom-Made Shigefusa Kitaeji Knives/特注の重房鍛地包丁、五丁

Late last year, someone asked me to help him order some Shigefusa knives from Yoshizawa Riko. Eventually, he ended up ordering five, together with the saya (wooden sheaths) for the individual knives! In early June, I sent him the knives, and he kindly sent me some photos, along with some comments. He gave me permission to post the photos in my blog, so here they are.
去年の終わり頃、吉沢利工に重房の包丁を注文するのを手助けしてくれないかとある人に頼まれました。結局、その人は包丁を五丁も注文し、その上、それぞれの包丁用の鞘(さや)も注文しました。6月初め、包丁を送り、その人から写真とコメントを頂きました。その写真をこのブログに載せる許可を頂いたので、載せることにします。

Note that all these knives have kitaeji (laminated steel) blades. Shigefusa's kitaeji blades are known to be resistant to warpage and easy to sharpen. For a novice like me, a kitaeji blade is simply a thing of beauty, though. 
これらの包丁はすべて鍛地(積層鋼)です。重房の鍛地の刃は反りにくく、研ぎやすいと言われています。私のような素人にとっては、鍛地の刃は単にa thing of beauty(美しいもの)ですが。

1. 1-shaku 5-sun (approx. 300 mm) yanagi
1.1尺5寸(約300 mm)柳  
A yanagi is a slicer for making sashimi.
柳とは刺身用のスライサーのことです。

2&3. 7-sun (approx. 195 mm) deba and 7-sun (approx. 195 mm) mioroshi
2&3.7寸(約195 mm)出刃と7寸(約195 mm)身卸
A mioroshi (or mioroshi deba) is a type of deba with a slender blade. It can be used as both deba and yanagi.
身卸(身卸出刃)とは、刃の細い、出刃の一種です。出刃と柳の両方に使えます。

2. Deba
2.出刃
3. Mioroshi
3.身卸
4. 150-mm wa (Japanese-style handle) petty (paring) knife:
4.150 mm和ペティーナイフ:
5. 240-mm wa (Japanese-style handle) gyuto
5.240 mm和牛刀
A gyuto is considered to be an equivalent to a chef's knife.
牛刀はchef's knifeに相当するものだと考えられています。

He commented about two flaws.
不具合を二つ指摘しました。

Visible teething at the tip of the petty knife
ペティ―ナイフの切っ先(きっさき)に、目に見えるギザギザ。

The other flaw was that the deba saya is tight. No photo.
もう一つの不具合は出刃の鞘がきついということでした。写真はありません。

Two other photos:
写真をもう二枚:

3&4: Mioroshi and petty
3&4:身卸とペティー
1&5: Yanagi and gyuto:
1&5:柳と牛刀:

Due to these two defects, he says he is not 100% satisfied, but he says, "... enjoying receiving these parts, it is like a dream."
上記の2つの不具合のせいで100%満足はしていないが、「これらのパーツを受け取ったことをエンジョイしている。夢のようだ」と言っています。

For the record, I received no money from either side. I solely acted as a volunteer. This is the sixth transaction between Yoshizawa Riko and a client, with me acting as a volunteer. 
念のため言っておきますが、私はどちらからもお金はもらっていません。単なるボランティアとして働いただけです。私をボランティアとする、吉沢利工と顧客との取引はこれで6回目です。

4 comments:

  1. My knife also had a small nick / chip in the middle of the blade which I detected too late after arriving home from Tokyo. I had to do some work with the stones to get rid of it. The steel is really soft. But I am still very satisfied with the knife.

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  2. Kiki: That's too bad! You mean the nick wasn't there when you purchased it?

    Still satisfied? You are probably one of the few women who know how to handle a carbon steel knife!

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  3. Thank you for posting such beauties. I would probably treat the small chips like unique marks on knives which are produced in small numbers (I'm sure chips almost never happen in mass-produced stuff).
    I think I have forgotten to tell you I also bought a big deba from Kai, the brand you have advised as the acceptable from the cheap ones (I pair raw chicken very often: actually every second week... so it proved very useful, but it's also great with fish filleting). I love both knives I bought thanks to you (the previous was a European shape: chef's knife). Thank you once more for the recommendation and very big help.
    Maybe next time I go to Tokyo I can buy something more expensive, now that I know I enjoy so much the shape of Japanese knives...

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  4. Sissi: Big deba?! Well, I guess you want a big deba to cut a whole chicken. As for me, I wish I could get a small (120 mm) aji kiri.

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