Kiritsuke Deba knife, Ginsan stainless steel, polished finish - Nakagawa Hamono

Satoshi Nakagawa is the young talent trained at Shiraki Hamono. He is working with a range of carbon and speciality steels and producing some really covetable knives. 

SHAPE: Deba. This is one of three quintessential single bevelled Japanese knives and is used for fish breakdown and preparation. Unlike a western filleting knife, this thing has no flex at all and is substantial in weight. This is to aid in bone cutting and allows the edge to be sharpened to hair popping levels while still giving in strength. This version has a funky drop on the tip.

STEEL: Ginsanko, or Silver 3 as it is commonly known, is a fantastic high carbon stainless steel that performs incredibly well. A huge plus point is that it is pretty easy to sharpen. It only has 13% Chromium, which is what makes stainless, well, stainless. This is the minimum amount a knife can have in it to be classed as stainless. So if you leave acid items on the knife don't be surprised to come back and find tarnish marks. This is the price for ease of sharpening.

FINISH: Polished.

HANDLE: Octagonal Ebony handle with a black buffalo horn ferrule

LENGTH: 180mm in length.

MAKER: Nakagawa Hamono.

BEST FOR: Those looking to own a knife from one of the newer talents coming from Sakai.

SAUNDERS SAYS: "Ginsan is a real gem to use -  out of all the stainless steels by a billion miles. The sharpenability is amazing." 

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