After 5 years of running this business we have finally got this masters knives in. He is one of the great makers of Japan and has been awarded the distinction of living treasure. He is also one of the makers who set up Takefu knife village.

SHAPE: Santoku

STEEL: Aogami (blue paper) super steel. This is very similar to white paper steel but with tungsten and chromium added to it which helps with edge retention and slows down rusting. The super part indicates the highest amount of carbon steel - at up to 1.5% - out of the blue series steels. This has then been hardened to 63-64 rockwell making it very hard and capable of retaining an edge for a very long time. The blue steel core has then been wrapped in stainless steel making maintenance easy.

FINISH: Kurouchi and tsuchime. The kurouchi Finish is a scale left on from the forging process.

HANDLE: Desert Ironwood Western Handle

LENGTH: 180mm in length.

MAKER: Saji - Takefu, Japan

BEST FOR: Owning something that not many other people do.

SAUNDERS SAYS: "Crikey, those handles."

These knives are hand-forged so there may be slight variations in measurements and finishes.