NEW LINE UP
10th Sep 2014
New line up of knives are finally lined up.
When I went back to Japan in May, I visited Gokoo, a very small blacksmith in Chiba prefecture hoping to find more handcrafted knives.
Gokoo is located in the middle of Nashi Pear farm because of the hammering and grinding noise and I had trouble finding the place as the car navi kept tricking me.
Whole world now know that Japanese houses are small but I was surprised to see that the work room of Gokoo was as small as a 1 car garage.
Quality, however, is nothing to do with the size of operation.
The blacksmith Mr Yamakawa showed me around his room and explained the 30 different steps to make a knife. His knives are listed as Chiba Prefectural Traditional Crafts among swords and all sorts of traditional Japanese crafts.
These days, most knives you see are beautifully polished and have a lot of make ups on. His knives on the other hand, are simple, rustic with little scratches and have a good weight but just beautifully fit in my hand.
I took a couple of Santoku back home and tried for 1 month myself.
Both knives have carbon steel in the core and I haven't used carbon steel knives for ages but it was just such a pleasure to use. Finely sharpened carbon steel knife has a sharpness that gives you goosebumps.
It took 2 months for Mr Yamakawa to forge the knives but I believe it was worth waiting. It is very silly that as a knife importer, I have to sell the knives for living but because they are just so beautiful, I'd feel sad if they are gone.
I think that I am such a lucky person being able to choose my hobby as a work.
I still get very exited when I find or try new knives.
Good news is that there are more coming from KIKUMITSU and hopefully more range from Gokoo too!