Honyaki Gyuto knife, Shirogami 3 Carbon steel, mirror polish finish - Ikeda

This gyuto is made by the legendary Yoshikazu Ikeda. He is the current chairman of the Sakai dentokogeshi (traditional skilled crafts)association. 

SHAPE: Abura Honyaki Gyuto. Japan's answer to the chef's knife with a thinner profile. Gyuto translates to cow sword. This is a honyaki - or true-forged - blade. These blades use a mono steel construction which is then differentially hardened. This basically means the edge is harder than the spine. The wave line, or hamon, seen on the blade face is an indication that the blade has been hardened in this way. These are the hardest knives to make and failure rate is high.

STEEL: Shirogami 3, the lowest carbon count out of the shirogami series. It has lower finished hardness which makes it tough ("less chippy") and easy to sharpen. 

FINISH: Mirror polish

HANDLE: Octagonal Ebony Handle with Black Buffalo Horn Ferrule and Silver Spacer

BLADE LENGTH: 240mm.

MAKER: Yoshikazu Ikeda - Sakai City, Japan