This Aogami Super(Blue Super) Damascus line by Yoshimi Kato is quite a refined take on the classic Kurouchi form, while keeping the authentic features that defines the Kurouchi knife, it pushes other aspects of the knife to a higher level than average, leading to a very pleasing set of blades that are very usable while maintaining a very afforadable price.
If you are not familiar with Yoshimi Kato, he is currently the head of Kato Uchihamono (formerly Kintaro) in Takefu, located in the Fukui area. As the third generation bladesmith, he works closly with Kurosaki Yu, and their blades share some similar traits: thin behind edge, very clean grind and nimble in hand.
This too applies to this Kurouchi line. The subtle damascus on the bevel is polished very well and the blade geometry is cleanly defined. The spine/choil are well finished before heat treating so they won't create hot spots, there is no further polishing needed in those areas so the Kurouchi finish is kept throughout the top half of the blade, giving that classic dark look and rust resistance.
In many cases, the Kurouchi finish is considered as a way to reduce cost as there are no further labour going into finishing after the grinding of the bevel is done. This is true to this line but through some of the details we can know, the amount of attention goes into this line is totally on a different level. The performanc of the knives also demonstrate this: the food penetration is superb, and the thin edge glides effortlessly into potato, using the tip for slicing is also a breeze, maybe the only complaint I can have about this line is that the super clean grind of the bevel can create some stickness.
The steel that enables this wicked edge is nothing but the Aogami Super, also known as Blue super, being listed as a Hitachi Carbon steel, it went quite far in its composition to the point it start to deviate from a typical carbon steel. A very high level of Tungsten, along with other alloys have given the AS steel an incredible ability to harden and retain its edge, they are often seen being heat treated to 65HRC which is quite incredible. With this hardness the cutting edge can be grind very thin, and enable great food penetration.
The heat treating on this line seems to be very good, although I don't have a long term experience using this line, I can tell the edge on this line is quite a bit harder to sharpen than my personal AS knife and Hayabusa AS line, which might translate to a higher wear resistance. If maintaining a iron cladding carbon knife isn't a trouble and you like the Kurouchi look, this line is definately a great choice.