Okeya Honesuki Aogami #2 150mm (5.9")
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A honesuki is a Japanese-style boning knife with a special, triangular-shaped stiff blade, designed for deboning poultry and cutting through soft joints.
The "reverse tanto" tip design increases the strength of the tip, which can be used to easily pierce the skin, as well as to make precise cuts in tight spots, like the joints. Its shape also allows making quick turns, great for trimming away fat and connective tissue.
Where this Okeya Honesuki Aogami#2 differs from others of its kind is a somewhat thinner profile. This means it can be used for all standard de-boning tasks but demands the user to take more care around the bones. Despite being a bit more delicate than other honesukis, its thin double bevel profile (for more go to Blade Construction: Geometry article) cuts meat like a hot knife through butter. Thinner also means lighter, which is an advantage after a long day of work. Standard honesuki knives have an asymmetrical grind, meaning they are usually suited only for right-handed users, while this one is sharpened to a 50/50 angle and fits both right and left-handed users.
The san mai construction (for more go to Blade Construction: Lamination) of the blade with Aogami#2 steel ( Blue Steel 2 - for more go to Steel: the heart of Japanese knives) core encased in layers of stainless steel offers the best of both worlds - the latter protect the high carbon core from external elements.
The 150mm (5.9") blade also sports the so-called nashiji finish (see article Blade Construction: Blade Finish for more), a specific type of hammered finish, which adds to the visual appeal of the knife and prevents the food from sticking to the surface as much.
The blade was fitted with an octagonal traditional Japanese (wa) handle made out of walnut wood and pakka wood ferrule. It is slightly bigger in size, for a safer, firmer grip.
About the smithy:
The family-run smithy was established 140 years ago and produced mainly Japanese traditional swords. The biggest change came after World War II when the company and the successors had to shift focus from the forbidden craft of manufacturing katanas to hand forged kitchen knives.
The artisans of Okeya are father and son. The father, Yasuhiko Fujiwara is a third generation blacksmith and his son, Akihito Fujiwara returned to the workshop after his knife apprenticeship in Sakai city. The workshop is located in Miki city, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan.