Okada White #2 Takobiki 300mm

We love knives with character—knives that are a bit outside of the box. So it was no surprise that we jumped at the chance of stocking these very unusual takobiki blades from our good friend Mr. Masanobu Okada.

Okada-san works in his small shop located in one of the epicenters of Japanese knives, the Takefu Village Cooperative factory in Echizen. He started blacksmithing many years ago making blades for farming and gardening use such as sickles and shears. Now he is expanding into the kitchen knife arena with some really unique, fun, and interesting knives.

Tako means octopus in Japanese and takobiki knives are designed to cut these mollusks efficiently and easily. The Okada takobiki is unusual in that it is a double-edged blade as opposed to the usual single grind. As such it is more sujihiki than takobiki and as such somewhat easier to maintain.

The swoop of the blade is called the sari and it is one of the features of Katana, Wakizashi, and other Japanese swords. Okada-san achieves this bend in the traditional way, by using different compositions of clay on the blade when the final heat treat is made. On quenching this causes the blade to curve due to the difference in densities of the micro-structures in the steel.

This is a very precise and difficult operation that Okada-san achieves with perfection. We are really excited about these limited edition knives, full of character, originality, and artisanship of a high order. Not bad for a guy who used to make farm tools!

Maker: Okada San

Location: Echizen, Japan

Construction: Hammer Forged, San Mai

Edge Steel: White #2

Cladding: Damascus

Edge Grind: Even

Weight: 6.6 oz (188 g)

Edge Length: 283 mm

Total Length: 449 mm

Spine Thickness at Base: 4.1 mm

Blade Height: 29.0 mm

Handle: Rosewood D-shaped

Ferrule: Black Pakka Wood