Fujiwara Nakiri 165

Handforged Nakiri 165 Japanese cutlery blade from Fujiwara – Seki, Japan

Few areas in the world are so renowned for bladed tools as Seki Japan. With traditions spanning over 700 years, there is no doubt that the Katanas and Cutlery from this area are among the finest in the world.

The Nakiri is a Japanese traditional vegetable knife. Its long relatively straight cutting edge designed to slice the food evenly and straight, while doing a complete cut when hitting the board. Nakiris are usually shorter than general use kitchen knives, most often the extra length is not needed for vegetables and thus only acts as a hinderance. A straighter belly also gives more cutting force when doing push/pull cuts as more of the edge is in contact with the foodstuffs.

Few steels reach such an almost mythical status as Hitachis White and Blue paper steels. The core steel in these Nakiris are Hitatchi White Steel No. 2, which is a low alloy high carbon steel often used in premium knives from Japan. Sides are made from soft iron to increase overall toughness.

The upper parts of the blades are covered in a traditional coating. This coating gives a luster to the iron, as well as offering some protection against corrosion.

The most known Hitachi steels are SK steels, Blue steel, White steel and Yellow steel. The SK steels come in grades 3-5 where #3 has the most carbon and #5 the least. Yellow steel is a cleaner variant of the SK series and contains less alloys. Yellow steel is commonly found in woodworking tools and some knives. The main steels used are the White and Blue paper steels, these have an even purer alloy with variations in carbon content. Blue steel has added chromium and tungsten for better corrosion resistance and edge retention at the cost of more brittleness, more difficult to sharpen and not being able to take as keen of an edge.

For both Blue and White steels #1 has the most carbon and lowering with higher number. The higher the carbon content the harder it is possible to get the steel, but this also leads to a more brittle blade. Out of types 1, 2 and 3, the No. 2 is seen as the best all-round variant with great sharpness, edge retention and toughness.

Blade length: 165mm
Blade width: 53mm
Blade thickness: 2,8-1,5mm tapering
Total length: 241mm
Steel: Hitachi White Paper No.2 Core, soft iron sides

These are high performance carbon steel blades and require more maintenance compared to a normal stainless kitchen knife. Never put in dishwasher, never chop anything frozen, never chop bones. Always clean and dry carefully after use, apply a light layer of vegetable oil after cleaning before putting into storage. Seems like a lot or work and things to think about, but it really is no different to grandmas cast iron cooking pots and pans.