Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan Kurouchi Series

About

On our recent business trip to Takefu City, Fukui Prefecture, which is a traditional knife making district that is famous for its “Echizen Uchi-Hamono” (“Hammer forged knives”), we found a workshop that was making an interesting and unusual type of Japanese traditional-style knives with fine craftsmanship. We had the pleasure of meeting with the owner, Master Shimada, whose long-established workshops specialize in the production of single bevel edged Japanese traditional-style forged knives. Master Shimada was kind enough to show us around the factory operation and their products. He explained to us very clearly, that his basic knife making philosophy was to produce the most practical and functional knives possible, and that he tries to produce knives that have fine cutting performance, but are also easy to re-sharpen. Accordingly, he believes that his selection of blade steel is one of the most important decisions that he makes during knife making. His preferred choice of steel is the highly popular Shirogami No.2 (“White Steel No.2”). This Japanese high carbon steel is very pure, and it is commonly chosen for making blades that require excellent edge sharpness and edge retention, that are also easy to sharpen. We agreed to use this steel for our new range of Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan Kurouchi Series of single bevel knives, which have a White Steel No.2 blade core that is forge welded with wrought iron. This is our first chance to introduce traditional-style Kurouchi (Literally, “Black-forged”) Japanese knives to you, but to make our knives even more unique we also chose to use a Tsuchime (“Hammered pattern”) texture. We believe this range of competitively priced and unique looking Japanese traditional-style knives will be a popular addition to our JCK Original “Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan” brand. At first glance, I was very impressed with the unique Kurouchi (“Black-forged”) finish of these blades and its beautiful color gradation. The Kurouchi finished section of the blade (See Top-half)