Jiro Tsuchime Wa Nakiri 180mm Tagayasan Handle (#492)

Jiro-san is a blacksmith and knife maker from the Nagano region and an artisan in every sense of the word. He is a one man operation, meaning every part of his blades have been handcrafted by Jiro-san from start to finish. Because of this the number of knives that he can produce is slim, each of them unique, numbered and with certificate.

These are made with Shirogami no.1 carbon steel which is one of the purest carbon steel used in today’s knife making. The forge welding is done by himself, the process of combining the harder core with the softer iron cladding. By doing this all in-house he can control every step of the process and forge with ideal temperatures. Not using pre-laminated steel is a rarity and this is showcased by the spine thickness of his knives because pre-laminated steel is not available with this thickness.
Jiro-San polishes and sharpens the knives be himself on his favourite combination of synthetic and natural whetstones. The results are incredibly even and finely polished bevels which are not only beautiful but add considerably to the performances the blade.

The classic vegetable knife. Highly functional for processing large amounts of vegetables and preforming finer cutting tasks such as julienne of brunoise. The absence of a pronounced belly in the profile orientates it more towards chopping style cutting motions rather than rolling cuts. 

This is a carbon steel knife with a soft stainless steel cladding. Many Japanese knives are constructed with a 3-layer design known as “San Mai,” where a hard, high-quality steel core is sandwiched between two layers of softer steel. In this case, the core is made of carbon steel, while the outer layers, or cladding, are composed of stainless steel. This construction combines the benefits of a carbon steel edge—such as easy sharpening and excellent edge retention—with the added corrosion resistance of stainless steel for the rest of the blade.

Although the cladding offers protection against oxidation, it’s still important to care for the knife properly. Store it clean and dry, avoid air-drying after washing, and never place it in the dishwasher. Additionally, steer clear of cutting very hard materials like frozen food or bones, which can damage the edge.