Yoshimi Kato Nashiji AS santoku EN

In the last decade Yoshimi Kato has become a world-famous blacksmith, thanks to his mastery and expertise in forging exceptional kitchen knives. He apprenticed with his father Hiroshi Kato, one of the pillars of Japanese cutlery. In 2017 he took over as head of the family business when his father retired. Kato-san creates his blades in the knife village of Takefu in Fukui Prefecture.

Blacksmith: Yoshimi Kato
series: Nashiji
steel: Aogami Super
type: santoku 170mm
length: 17.2cm
blade thickness at heel: 2.9 mm
thickness of blade at tip: 0.5 mm
blade height: 4.51 cm
weight: 180 gr

Made entirely by hand, the handle is composed of a stained and stabilized maple burl, brass and silver nickel spacers, stabilized mammoth molar ends.

This blade is part of the Nashiji series forged with an Aogami Super steel core. This steel with a hardness of 64 +-1 HRC achieves a razor sharp edge, which remains sharp for a very long time and is also extremely easy to sharpen. It’s called SUPER for a reason. The word Nashiji can be literally translated as “pear skin” due to its velvet-like texture.