[Flash Indigo Tenmoku] Gyuto 21cm with Sheath

• Type: Gyuto
• Blade material: R2/SG2 powdered stainless steel (rust-resistant)
• Blade hardness: HRC 62-63
• Blade grind: Double bevel
• Blade length: 210mm
• Blade width: 47.5mm
• Blade thickness: 2mm
• Handle and sheath material: Ho wood (Japanese magnolia)
• Handle and sheath finish: Indigo dyed (Tenmoku, dry-lacquer finish) with waterproof coating
• Knife weight: 147g
• Sheath weight: 60g

About the Gyuto

The gyuto arrived in Japan from the West in the Meiji era, along with the habit of cooking meat. Abroad it is known as a chef's knife.

Its blade is narrower than a santoku's — it was made for meat.

Cooks who often work with large ingredients have taken to it as a longer, roomier all-purpose knife.

Slimmer and sharper in profile than a santoku, it is the second most popular shape in the range.

About the Flash Indigo Tenmoku series

The blade is forged by Yu Kurosaki, one of Japan's leading bladesmiths. Widely featured on television and with a following around the world, he is known for two things: the tsuchime hammer finish he strikes into every blade himself, and the extraordinary edge that high-grade Super Gold high-speed steel makes possible. The Senko series carries a tsuchime pattern designed around the idea of light. Each blade is made by hand by a certified traditional craftsman, so the number that exist is small. The handle was developed by Akiyuki Sakamoto of Edit Japan, a producer of Japanese traditional crafts, together with Mai Kobo — a group of artisans in Tokushima who hold the unusual skill of dyeing wood with indigo. It builds on the earlier Indigo Bocho, which first brought indigo dyeing to a knife, and takes the collaboration further: tenmoku, a technique from ceramics, and kanshitsu, a technique from lacquerware, are worked into the indigo. The result is a textured surface that grips well and a look nothing else has, in a color long said to carry antibacterial properties. Kurosaki's Senko and indigo-dyed Tenmoku, on one knife.

About the sheath

Yu Kurosaki's knives are not normally sold with a sheath, so Edit Japan developed one for this series. Every sheath uses the kiritsuke-gata shape, with an angled tip. The cross-section is cut as two facets meeting in a ridge, so that the bright and the shadowed parts of the tenmoku finish both read clearly. Smaller things are taken care of too: the pin that holds the knife in the sheath is tied to it with a cord, so it is hard to lose.

Engraving

This blade already carries Yu Kurosaki's signature.

Additional engraving is not available.

Care and handling

Do not cut or strike bones or frozen food. It will chip the edge.

Wash by hand in water, dry thoroughly with a cloth, and leave it to air-dry.

Please do not put it in the dishwasher.

The food-safe waterproof coating keeps the indigo from bleeding out, but the handle can chip or crack under a hard knock, so please treat it gently.

Each piece is finished by hand, so the color and character of the indigo vary from knife to knife.

Production is very limited; please allow one to two months for delivery.

The blade shape has changed slightly — the rounded tip is now angled, making this the "Ei" series.