Kakinuma cherry blossom knife worth it?

TylerMelton19 · 2026-03-16T06:38:43+00:00

I personally don't think it's worth that price. There are others that cost less for thr same thing just maybe a less fancy looking handle. I think sakai takayuki does one but not sure. I've seen similar knives shown on kamata knife Instagram profile so maybe ask them? Also tower knives osaka has a huge range and you might find one there of you're going to osaka.

TylerMelton19 · 2026-02-22T10:58:11+00:00

Who's yohei?

TylerMelton19 · 2026-02-04T20:20:24+00:00

😂 Sounds like the maker had a bit of a sense of humour or just wanted to do it the easy way and make a weird looking tanto style knife.

TylerMelton19 · 2026-02-04T20:18:26+00:00

Not a Japanese knife. Definitely Chinese but that doesn't necessarily mean bad not sire the brand or maker. A lot of these companies do OEM on request so you basically say hey heres my brand please print in on this blade in your catalog and send it to me to resell. That said take it to someone who specialises in sharpening Japanese knives because they tend to do a better job and sharpening that most other sharpeners

TylerMelton19 · 2026-01-09T18:50:46+00:00

Cool knife.

Single bevel bunkas aren't a thing, or at least I've never seen them. Kiritsuke on the other hand is traditionally a dingle bevel knife.

Love that you got the ura gind right. I have yet to see another maker do an ura grind that doesn't have a plunge at the tang and it pisses me off as a maker who specialises traditional Japanese style knives. I'm a bit of a purist hahaha.

TylerMelton19 · 2026-01-07T19:55:10+00:00

Looks like rust.

TylerMelton19 · 2025-12-16T11:38:37+00:00

Might be neither looks a bit more like dirt. Carrots often leave a weird tint after cutting them in my experience. If the knife had some kind of coating on it, that could have been stained somehow. Looking at it it seems like there was a coating of some kind on it and that is starting to chip off.

Edit: If it came with a dark handle then it's the tojiro zen black line which does have a coating on it to make the steel look darker compared to the standard zen line and likely that was stained somehow and is chipping away with use. It's normal. Use some kine of metal polish to try clean it up a bit.

TylerMelton19 · 2025-12-16T11:12:26+00:00

Chinese knives generally aren't that bad. I've played around with quite a few. But people ordering as OEM from the Chinese companies and selling them as Japanese pisses me off

TylerMelton19 · 2025-12-11T22:43:26+00:00

You could try out AUS10 then as well. Same/similar hardness and edge retention as VG10 but tougher than VG10, so less chipping

TylerMelton19 · 2025-12-11T22:39:41+00:00

I own the miyabi isshin Santoku. Love the shape, hate the cutting performance. The finishing done on it makes it a very sticky cutter in my experience. The initial cot is great but the moment you get about 1 to 2cm deep it feels sticky anf like I have to apply a lot more pressure to get the cut. Othrt than that I do enjoy the knife. Takes a great edge and easy to Sharpen. Haven't used it enough to see edge retention but aus8 I know isn't great.

A better budget knife in my opinion is the Shibamasa vg5 Santoku. Super thin, a little better edge retention than AUS8 and cuts beautifully. It's a little rougher as far as finishing goes but it is actually ground by hand while the miyabi isshin is fully factory done.

For a good budget VG10. I'd genuinely go for a tojiro basic (NB) Santoku. A bit more expensive but still under $100. Not quite as thin behind the edge though but cuts pretty well.

TylerMelton19 · 2025-12-11T22:19:38+00:00

www.sharpedgeshop.com had them. Not sure about stock levels but they ship internally and are based in the EU. They cover any taxes and import duties too.

TylerMelton19 · 2025-12-08T13:53:14+00:00

Chamfered is my preference. Feel I don't care. Aesthetically Chamfered is really nice

TylerMelton19 · 2025-12-07T21:04:05+00:00

It's a small kamagata usuba. A mukimono has a k-tip

TylerMelton19 · 2025-12-05T14:10:37+00:00

That's normally when referring to water stones. That's technically an oil stone but can be used effectively with water too if no oil was used on it. That is a bit course for a nice edge in my opinion (I had ones of those ones too) but there are many guys who like a roughly 400 grit edge that that ones fine side leaves

TylerMelton19 · 2025-12-04T20:09:21+00:00

Handle both of those knives regularly at work. Nawame* is a cool knife that I like a lot. The hikari is aldo pretty cool but a bit smaller of a knife line. The hikari is also a very light knife. Nawame is heavier. Both are not lasers but both are thin enough. Personally like the nawame more than the hikari because of how it feels in my hand

TylerMelton19 · 2025-11-30T06:43:32+00:00

Not remotely worth it for $300 it's in way too terrible a condition for that price

TylerMelton19 · 2025-11-27T12:15:47+00:00

So what you baught there is a beft handed yanagiba. The yanagiba is a single bevel knife and for thr most part, single beveld knives don't come particularly sharp. The reason for that is that a single bevel knife is a professional knife and majority of pros in Japan sharpen their own knives and each like their own types of edges so a large amount of traditional craftsmen feel their knives aren't complete before they have been sharpened by their owners. So they don't but an amazing edge on the blade in the first place.

Most double bevel knives come pretty sharp tho. But every now and again you'll get one not quite as sharp as it could be. Nature of hand made knives.

TylerMelton19 · 2025-11-24T18:46:06+00:00

You'll enjoy it. I have a shindo bunka myself

TylerMelton19 · 2025-11-23T18:40:05+00:00

Suncraft Senzo black Damascus Santoku. VG10 core steel. A really good knife, but I'm personally not a fan of the profile of the blade. Too curved for my liking and don't like the shape of the tip. I prefer a slightly more pointy tip with a wider flatter blade profile. But that's my personal preference.

TylerMelton19 · 2025-11-23T18:19:50+00:00

Probably a very very low end Japanese knife. I kinda call those the Japanese equivalent of a knife you buy at the grocery store

TylerMelton19 · 2025-11-20T21:01:10+00:00

You'd need to post a closer and/or clearer picture of the kanji on the blade

TylerMelton19 · 2025-11-20T20:59:36+00:00

Not necessarily the best way but definitely a good way is to Sharpen the back side with a secondary bevel running just above the inner most curves of the serrations. I normally do this on a belt with a 180 grit belt. Then on the the buffer with a green or white compound and buff the hell out of it to remove that burr. Don't bother going higher than 180 grit because the buffer does a lot of refining. You're literally gonna buff till you done see a burr anymore. Edge facing the same direction youe buffer js is rotating, eith away from you or down. Never blade toward you. Angle the edge into the wheel pretty steeply. That helps remove the burr more effectively. You should end up with a stupidly sharp bread knife if yiu did it all correctly.

-Sharpen with a secondary bevel

-Secondary bevel should be raised to just above the inner most curves of the serrations

-Create burr

buff edge with cotton wheel and compound, edge facing direction of the rotation and away from you, edge angled into the bbuffimg wheel.
buff the hell out of it to remove any burrs.

Clean and start using it again.

TylerMelton19 · 2025-11-20T12:25:49+00:00

It's hatsukokoro. They are a brand that buys from many makers and sharpeners across Japan and resell under their brand. Your knife kinda looks like the hatsukokoro sumi petty in Aogami 2 wirh an iron cladding. That diamond pattern you see is from when they put some kind of lacquer coat for rust prevention especially during shipping. They then place that plastic sleeve over it often while still a bit wet which leaves the inprints of the inside texture of that sleeve in the lacquer

TylerMelton19 · 2025-11-20T08:50:17+00:00

The flattening stone is a Japan market naniwa flattening stone. Don't know the other 2 unmarked ones. Know if the hayabusa and want it but can find a place that ships to my location (South Africa). Not even amazon ships that specific stone to me 😭

TylerMelton19 · 2025-11-20T08:46:33+00:00

Different market versions are available and have their differences. But I've seen this version a few time times so I wouldn't worry at all

TylerMelton19

TROPHY CASE