Kitaoka White #1 Damascus Kiritsuke 270mm

For over 30 years, Kitaoka-san has been making high end Japanese knives from his small shop in Takefu Village, Echizen in Fukui Prefecture. He is known for his beautiful and skillful use of the Suminagashi (Damascus) cladding technique.

The White #1 line of knives have a cutting edge which is formed from Aogami #1, a high-carbon steel known for its hardness and superior edge retention. He hardens these knives to 63-64 HRC. A beautifully forged 12-layer cladding of softer carbon steel is applied resulting in a stunning damascus finish that adds to the beauty and strength of the blade. Traditional kiritsuke knives are sharpened on one side only, with the reverse side featuring a slight concave profile. Because the edge is sharpened on the left side of the blade, this knife is only suitable for right-hand users.

The shape and size of a kiritsuke result in a knife with a dual personality. It can be used like a usuba for the cutting of vegetables or as a yanagiba to slice raw fish. But it should be noted that these types of knives require skill to use effectively and are therefore usually reserved for executive chefs in Japanese kitchens. The beautiful blade is made more so by the addition of a traditional octagonal handle made from rosewood and black pakka wood for the ferrule.

Blacksmith: Kitaoka

Location: Echizen, Japan

Construction: Hammer Forged, San Mai

Cladding: Carbon Steel Damascus

Edge Steel: White #1

Grind: One Sided Traditional Grind (see choil shot)

Handle: Rosewood Octagonal

Ferrule: Black Pakka Wood

Engraving: Hand Engraved

Weight: 6.5ounces

Blade Length: 262mm

Spine Thickness at Base: 3mm

Blade Height: 39mm

Please note: We only ship Kitaoka knives in the USA