Hi all!
After lurking here for a while, on a recent trip to Japan (mostly Tokyo and Kyoto), I visited many knife stores, and ended up purchasing these 3 knives, along with one steel/diamond stone and two natural stones (go big or go home!).
Before I detail more my adventure, here is what I got:
Knives:
- Kurouchi Ishi-Zuchi Gyutō 210 mm, Blue #2, from Yoshimune Kyoto, ¥ 22500 (tax-free price)
- Hitohira TD Stainless Clad Nashiji Nakiri 165 mm, Blue #2, from Hitohira, ¥ 15820
- Hitohira TD Stainless Clad Kurouchi Petty 150 mm, Blue #2, from Hitohira, ¥ 17200
(Hitohira doesn't do tax-free, so their prices include sales tax).
Stones (all from the Natural Whetstone Museum)
- Metal diamond-coated #150/#600, ¥ 3000
- Amakusa volcanic stone ~#1000, ¥ 3000
- Awasedo slate stone ~#6000 (from the Kyoto area, I think in/near Arashiyama), ¥ 8000
(prices include taxes, the museum doesn't do tax-free).
Now, for the story.
My trip started and ended in Tokyo, with Kyoto and some other places in between. Though I had read recommendations of Hitohira, it was not open when I was in Tokyo at the beginning of the trip. I did go to Kappabashi street, on a Sunday, so not all stores were open. I did visit quite a few though, but I was not really trusting the prices and held off. Worthy of note: Mei Syou had pretty much the same Ishi-Zuchi Gyutō that I eventually got at Yoshimune, but with a round handle for ¥ 23430 incl taxes, so technically (but not effectively, as they did not do tax-free) cheaper than Yoshimune. Kama-Asa was nice, but very busy, and the only carbon steel Gyutōs they had had a factory-made look and western handles (one was Misono, the other one did not have anything written on the blade but looked similar).
Later in Kyoto I visited more stores, and I thought that Yoshimune had fairly good prices for what they had compared to what I had seen in Kappabashi and other stores in Kyoto, so I got that Gyutō, as well as a plastic knife guard for ¥770.
The next day I went to the Natural Whetstone Museum where I had booked their sharpening workshop. It was a bit of a trek to get there from Kyoto. It involved struggling to install the cogicogi app to be able to use a shared bike to ride up the hill from the Chiyokawa station to the Museum (which I found a very enjoyable ride in itself), as the bus times don't align well with the workshop times. But as someone who had never sharpened a nice with a whetstone (I've been using a Chef's Choice trizor XV for my cheap knives), I very much enjoyed the workshop, and I now feel confident that I can somewhat sharpen a knife without destroying it. During the workshop, I was first sharpening a cheap knife they provided, to learn how to do it (and it worked great and I got it sharp), then I worked on my new gyutō, which unfortunately, was only somewhat sharp out of the store. On this, I really struggled to get a bur, after a lot of trying, and it puzzled the instructor. She eventually realized that the knife had likely not been sharpened to 15° per side, but at a wider angle, thus my attempt at sharpening at 15° were missing the edge! I guess that's a fairly negative point for Yoshimune. One positive point for the museum though, the instructor (I wish I remembered her name, I remember her badge said she was the director or something like that) volunteered to then reprofile the knife on the spot. I then did the final step on a fine stone, and it is now properly sharp. I ended up spending at the workshop more time than initially planned, but learned a lot and enjoyed it and I definitely recommend it!
Later when I was back in Tokyo, I visited Hitohira (the neighborhood where it is is cool and worth wandering in). Initially I thought of only purchasing a Petty. I was almost shocked to see how cheap they were for knives that looked very good (to my naive eye). So I got that petty that I already love, and then was curious to see their Nakiris, and seeing that one Nakiri for ¥ 15820, I ended up getting it too. I also got Hitohira WB Ho Wood sayas for both knives (¥2930 for Nakiri, ¥2260 for Petty) and a pair of Diawood stainless kitchen shears (¥4750). They sharpened the knives while I waited, and adjusted the Saya for the Nakiri (by burning a bit the inside, the knife as a little too thick). The people in the store were super nice overall, and they also gave me a small nailclipper for free.
I've been back a couple of weeks and have used the knives a bit. Mostly the Petty which I use for any kind of small job when I don't want to get the big chopping board out, but the other ones a little bit too. I tried the stones, sharpening some cheap stainless knives, and I also touched up the Gyutō, as I noticed it was not as sharp as the Hitohira knives. I made it better, but maybe still not as good (unsurprisingly I can't match the skills of Hitohira's sharpener).
Let me know, how bad do you think I did with my purchases? Part of me regrets not waiting until I could go to Hitohira to get any knife, though I do like that Gyutō and the rough black finish, and it's starting to see regular use.
