Kitaoka Blue #2 Kiritsuke 240mm

The Kiritsuke knife is a generously sized all-purpose knife intended to accomplish many cutting tasks around the kitchen. Kiritsuke is the only truly multipurpose traditional Japanese knife, and in Japan only the executive chef in the kitchen is allowed to use one. This 240mm knife blade slices, dices and minces quickly and efficiently, making it the knife you'll reach for again and again.

In our continued pursuit of meeting the needs of professional chefs and avid home cooks, we are very pleased to offer these great knives made by Hideo Kitaoka and his team of skilled craftsmen. Kitaoka-san has this to say about the process: “Traditional handicraftsmen requires us to acquire one skill at a time and we have to learn it with our hands and body. I make Deba and Japanese knives mainly, and I would like to try my best to make amazingly sharp and ‘cut that-makes-you-feel-great’ knives as the 3rd generation (of my business family).”

We believe that this knife, together with his other knives in this collection, are proof of his dedication and skill to the fine art of blade smith and knife maker. Please note these knives have a gapped machi comonly referred to as Tokyo Style. It is mostly for aesthetics. It is not a defect. Please refer to photo #4 to see how this looks. Most of his knives feature this.

The knife comes with a nice, upgraded rosewood octagonal handle.

Blacksmith: Kitaoka

Location: Echizen, Japan

Construction: Hammer Forged, San Mai

Cladding: Soft Iron Kasumi Finish

Edge Steel: Blue #2

Grind: One-Sided Traditional Grind (see choil shot)

Right-Handed Grind

Type: Kiritsuke

HRC: 62-63

Handle: Rosewood Octagonal

Ferrule: Black Pakka Wood

Finish: Satin

Weight: 5.4 oz (152 g)

Edge Length: 227 mm

Total Length: 380 mm

Spine Thickness at Base: 3.1 mm

Blade Height: 35.6 mm