We honestly did not know what to call this knife! What we do know is that it is a super utility knife that is like a cross between a
bunka and a honesuki. Honesuki knives are made to portion out poultry and this knife makes breaking down chickens a breeze. But now enter the bunka part, as this knife can be used for many other tasks in the kitchen as well. Also unlike many honesukis, this one is evenly ground on both sides of the blade so it's good for a left- or right-handed user.
Tanaka-San lives and works with his entire family on a compound that includes his house, retail store, and blacksmith shop outside Nagasaki. He is a very talented and hard-working smith. Tanaka-San uses the very popular Aogami 2 steel as his core component. He hardens the steel to a Rockwell rating of 62HRC. He then forge welds a layer of soft stainless steel to the core (hagane) using a technique known as san mai. Even though the cladding is stainless these knives must be kept clean and dry to avoid corrosion to the exposed core. The cladding is given a really lovely nashiji, or pear skin, finish. The hammer marks you see on these blades are real and not stamped with a press.
Brand: Matsubara
Location: Nagasaki
Blacksmith: Tanaka-San
Steel: Blue #2
Cladding: Stainless
Finish: Nashiji
Knife Type: Honesuki
Edge: Even
Engraving: Hand Engraved
Weight: 4.2 oz (120 g)
Blade Length: 160 mm
Total Length: 292 mm
Spine Thickness at Base: 3.5 mm
Blade Height: 46.0 mm
Handle: Rosewood Octagonal
Please note, Mr. Tanaka puts a notch in the tang and this is done on purpose and is not an installation mistake.