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Yoshihiro Yauji

Yauji Yoshihiro(弥氏 良寬), born in Echizen, Fukui Perfecture in 1983. At age of 20 in 2003, he entered Kitaoka Knives to apprentice under Kitaoka Hideo(北岡 英雄), the third generation bladesmith of Kitaoka Knives. In 2019, he acquired the Traditional Craftsman Certification, which is quite remarkable, considering by average it take 25 years for a bladesmith to accomplish this goal.

In April of 2021, Yoshihiro Yauji left Kitaoka Knives and set up his own independent knife workshop Kutsurogi(寬), which shares a same Kanji with part of his name. Kutsurogi along with Yoshihiro Yauji is now a part of the Takefu Knife Village, which is an association that consists 14 knife companies and more than 40 bladesmiths, all located in Echizen area. With big names like Yu Kurosaki, Shiro Kamo and Yoshimi Kato, the Takefu Knife Village has a total of 17 Certified Traditional Craftsman, working and communicating with each others, they make the association a remarkable force in the industry.

Yoshihiro Yauji's knives are often found in damascus, with a color that is usually brighter than what you find on other makers. These blades seems to be grinded with a convex bevel, wich helps prevently food sticking greatly, especially when paired with a more"sticky" finish like a mirror polish. With this skillfull grinding and great fit and finish, Yoshihiro quickly gained fame and reputation as a relatively young bladesmith in Takefu Knife Village.

Yoshihiro Yauji — Takefu
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Est. 2021

Knives by Yoshihiro Yauji

Hatsukokoro By Yoshihiro Yauji Ginga ATS-34 Mirror Damascus

Hatsukokoro By Yoshihiro Yauji Ginga ATS-34 Mirror Damascus

Introducting the Hatsukokoro Ginga(銀河) ATS-34 line: an excellent steel forged by a highly talented young smith.Hatsukorko, teamed up with Yoshihiro Yauji, on... Read more Introducting the Hatsukokoro Ginga(銀河) ATS-34 line: an excellent steel forged by a highly talented young smith.Hatsukorko, teamed up with Yoshihiro Yauji, one of the youngest Dentokogeshi (Traditional Craftsmen) in Takefu Knife Village, to create this beautiful line of knives that are extremely nimble yet tough enough to deal with every occasion in the kitchen. The high level of fit and finish is evident from the rounded and polished spine and choil, as well as the profile that tapers from heel to tip. The clean and uniform mirror polish across the entire blade not only displays the attention to detail, but also makes the damascus pop and shine, living up to its name Ginga(Milky Way).The ATS-34 steel, manufacturerd by Hitachi Special Steel, is the Japanese equivalent of the 154CM, famous for its toughness, corrosion-resistance and "high-speed" properties. Bob Loveless brought the ATS-34 into fame in the 70s. In recent years, the creation of the ATS-34 sanmai billets enabled the ATS-34 steel to appear in kitchen knife making. Notably introduced by RyuSen around 2015-2016.Although this line has a mirror polish finish, the stickness found on typical mirror polished blade seems to be absent when cutting into a potato. It seems to us Yoshihiro Yauji put on a convex grind on the bevel, wich reduces the drag when the blade is contacting the food. Paring that with a rather thin grind, it glide effortlessly even when spliting a potato right through the middle.One noteworthy freature about Yauji's knifes is that the Santoku he forges takes a rather unique profile, similar to a Sanjo Gyuto. These Santoku are thin and wide, offering them excellent stability when cutting vegetables. Their tips curves up significantly, resulting a round head compare with the flat belly of a typical Santoku. This geometry means that rocking motion is much easier to do on Yauji's Santoku, making them even better at handling vegetables of all kind, which is a perfect fit for Santoku's purpose.This ATS34 line not only look good, but also cuts well, if you are fancying a shiny damascus knife, these blades can be a choice that pack some good performances. Read less

Pros

  • Great artistic
  • Thin behind the edge

Cons

  • Mirror polish can be hard to maintain
Sanmai - Stainless Damascus Clad Mirror Polish
Hatsukokoro By Yoshihiro Yauji Ginyo Ginsan Damascus

Hatsukokoro By Yoshihiro Yauji Ginyo Ginsan Damascus

Hatsukokoro's Ginyo(銀葉, silver leaf) line is forged by Yoshihiro Yauji, a relatively young bladesmith who acquired the Traditional Craftsman Certificate ... Read more Hatsukokoro's Ginyo(銀葉, silver leaf) line is forged by Yoshihiro Yauji, a relatively young bladesmith who acquired the Traditional Craftsman Certificate in 2019. His personal style is well reflected on this line: dazzling damascus pattern, solid fit and finish and a grind that packs performance.The Ginyo is has a Ginsan stainless core steel and stainless damascus cladding. The pattern on this cladding is very dense, covering up almost the entirety of the blade and leaves very little core steel exposed. Combining with the Migaki finish, the blade gets a metallic grey look from afar, with some of the blades having a wide than usual profile, they indeed like leaves made of silver. Just like the leaf reveal its veins upon close inspection, the Ginyo shows more details when you pick them up for a closer look. Not only the damascus pattern is beautiful to look at, the choil and spine, although having no visible rounding, are well polished, the Migaki finish is very fine with only light grind marks can be seen, and finally, the bevel is done in a convex grind, which greatly enhances the strength of the cutting edge and reduces food sticking and resistance when cutting something thick.The Ginsan steel that the line receives is a high carbon stainless steel, it is surprisingly easy to sharpen and does have a performance on par with VG10. Although when picking these kinves up, the thick spine and extra material left from convex grind will leave an impression of the blade bring too thick to cut well, but the blade geomety does seems to do the user a favour and indeed make food penetration easier. The grind on this line will be categorized as a workhorse due to this thickness and strength, but I believe this doesn't necessarily means these knives don't cut well.If you enjoy the benefits that the Ginsan offers and looking for a series with good performance, this Ginyo line should be something that you keep on the list. Read less

Pros

  • Great artistic
  • Excellent performance
  • Easy to look after

Cons

  • High budget
  • Heavy
Sanmai - Stainless Damascus Clad Migaki

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