Yu Kurosaki Petty Gekko HAP-40 Migaki 130mm (5.1")

Kurosaki Petty from the Gekko line is another special blade from the hands of a talented master blacksmith Yu Kurosaki. The minimalistic, lightweight, perfectly balanced blade is treated to a high polish − hence the name Gekkō (月光) which means moonlight in Japanese. 

BLADE SHAPE:
Petty or utility knives are basically a smaller version of gyutos or chef's knives, intended for all those smaller tasks where larger and wider knives are deemed unwieldy. A must-have in every kitchen, this small general-purpose knife is used for peeling and slicing fruit and vegetables, while its compact size and a relatively narrow blade also makes it very nimble and thus perfect for filleting fish, cutting poultry, slicing smaller pieces of dry meats and trimming meat. The pronounced “K-tip” proves very useful with fine, decorative work with vegetables and fruit, as well as with trimming and skinning, as it’s great for piercing through the skin. The blade is 130mm (5.1") long.

HANDLE:
Kurosaki Gekko line features a traditional Japanese Oak wood handle (Wa) with universal, octagonal shape that comfortably fits in the hands of both right- and left-hand users. The whole handle is made of one piece of wood (without a ferrule). 

STEEL:
Hitachi’s HAP-40 steel fits into the category of modern and technologically advanced steels. HAP-40 is fine-grained enough to sharpen very well, and knives from this steel keep their sharpness 3-5 times longer than traditional knives. An interesting fact is that, considering it is a powder steel, it has an extremely small content of chromium (around 4%) and can react as a high-carbon steel in specific circumstances.

This steel is heat-treated to an incredible 65-66 HRC, yet it can still be relatively easily sharpened on whetstones. It is extremely tough, and so not as likely to chip along the edge as the steel used in traditional knives.

LAMINATION:
The steel is laminated, meaning that the core is made of very strong steel covered with an external layer of softer stainless steel − also known as san-mai clad. 

→ Read more on Blade construction: Lamination.

GEOMETRY:
It has a double bevel (symmetrical) blade (50/50). The blade is convexly sharpened.

BLADE FINISH:
Hand-chiseled kanji signature is the only distinguishing element on this otherwise clean, highly polished (also called migaki) blade. 

→ Read more on Blade construction: Blade finish.

ABOUT THE BLACKSMITH:
Yu Kurosaki is a talented master blacksmith who lives in Takefu Knife Village, close to the city of Echizen. His knives are well known throughout Japan and also around the world for their beautiful, unique-looking design and superior quality. Hammer's dents on the blade are his signature finish, and just like with snowflakes, not a single dent is alike. Needless to say (but we will say it anyway), his knives don’t only look great but they’re also made of high-quality steel and have a razor sharp, long-lasting edge.

Before opening his own smithy, Kurosaki-san was the apprentice of Hiroshi Kato, a master blacksmith with more than 50 years of knife-making experience. Kato-san is one of the founders of Takefu Knife Village, where now more than 10 master blacksmiths make knives by hand and put them on display for visitors to admire and learn more about their craft. Kurosaki-san is the youngest blacksmith to be granted the title of Master Nokaji by Takefu Knife Village Association and is a senior teacher there.

☝️When you visit Japan, make sure to put the Takefu Knife Village to your itinerary!

Here's a short video of Kurosaki's workshop: