Nojiyama Marunaka Kataha Kurouchi Ajikiri 130mm

It's hard to pin down but there's just something right about kasumi kurouchi kataha.

Layered, black-forged, single bevel knives have something special about them. It may be that they're not particularly common. It may be that they seem to represent some sort of hybrid vigor, if that makes sense. It's fair to say that most kataha (single bevel) Japanese knives are a cut above, and it's also fair to say that kuro-uchi blades are generally more utilitarian, although for our part we find the usual rustic finish to be very appealing. So when we find the two attributes in one knife, we feel happy.

This is a nice knife. It has more heft than most ajikiri knives of a comparable length, almost a ko-deba but not quite. Robust. Sharp, naturally. And we particularly like the buttery hand-worked finish to the blade that is not commonly seen in a single-bevel kasumi blade.