Jikko Tokusei Japanese Takohiki Knife 24cm Nihon Steel Blade, Magnolia Wood Handle

Today is relatively easy to find Japanese knives in the European market, but most of those knives are produced by big industrial manufacturers that do not always excel at keeping the real Japanese quality. To get knives of great quality that are made by true Japanese artisans, you will probably have to look deeper into the market, and if you do it right, you should find brands such as Jikko, which is the one that created the takohiki knife that we present you in this page.

Indeed, this knife is a real Japanese knife made by real Japanese artisans. It is the perfect knife for slicing fish with remarkable precision. Its blade has a core made of Nihon steel, which is a high quality Japanese steel. The high carbon content of this type of steel enables the blade to be strong and rigid, reaching a hardness level of 59/60 HRC in the Rockwell scale. Over the Nihon steel core, there is a layer of soft iron that is visible on the blade’s surface due the difference in colour between the steels.

Moreover, the blade was sharpened by hand by an artisan who uses sharpening stones with different grit. The sharpening process starts by using a whetstone with coarse grit, and finishes by using a stone with fine grit 3000. The smooth transition from coarse to fine grains gives an excellent razor sharp finish to the blade’s edge.

The blade’s surface has also been engraved by the artisan to display brand’s logo in Japanese. The engraving is directly made by hand using a punch and a small hammer, and because it is truly engraved in the steel and not just stamped, the logo will never fade away. These are the kind of details that separate this knife from all the other Japanese knives made by other mass-production brands!

Another important part of this knife is its Magnolia wood handle. This type of wood is hard and naturally antibacterial. Its surface has been polished so that you can enjoy a soft, smooth grip. The handle is connected to the blade through a polycarbonate black bolster. Last but not least, the handle is also engraved, which gives the perfect final aesthetic touch to the knife!

To guarantee the durability of the look and cutting performance of this or any other knife as special as this one, you need to take good care of it. For example, because the blade is made of carbon steel, it should always be washed by hand using non-agressive products and dry it immediately with a soft cloth.

As it is the case for all the Jikko knives from the Tokusei series, this knife was handcrafted in Sakai, Japan. This type of knife might not be very common in the European market, but it is actually the ideal tool for chefs who prepare sashimi. Given that the blade is single bevel, this knife is only suitable for right-handed cooks.

If you’d love to have more top-quality knives like this one, we invite you to visit our category with all the Jikko knives on our website!