Shiro Kunimitsu Kurouchi Special Usuba 165mm

Shiro Kunimitsu Hamono's forging space is one of the few in Japan that attracts Japanese tour groups by appointment. This family company of sword makers represents traditions that many Japanese hold dear.

That sense of the traditional can be found in their kitchen knives. Case in point, their special-forged usuba-bocho doesn't quite fit with the modern understanding of the usuba - perhaps the family use of the name missed its etymological evolution to delicate single-grind blade intended wholly and solely for vegetables.

It's a double-bevel blade for one, and described in the company literature as ideal for vegetables and meat. The blade looks taller than it measures, due perhaps to the shallow kiriba.

There's something else, too, but it's hard to put a finger on. The overall impression of this knife is... mature. The blade finish somehow seems to hark from times past, juxtaposed by a precision in the execution of the blade. There's no doubt when you hold it in your hand that it's a hand-crafted item of the highest order.