Motokyuuichi kitchen knives are hand forged in Shimabara City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The Kyuuichi family had a strong reputation for samurai sword forging during the Edo period, but gradually withdrew from sword forging over time. In 1895, the forge was taken over by the sword smith Shoujiro Maeda, to whom we owe the Motokyuuichi forge as we know it today. The Maeda lineage passed on skills and knowledge from generation to generation: the forge of katana, agricultural tools, hunting weapons and kitchen knives. The 4th and 5th generations of the Maeda family have made the transition to forging kitchen knives in a traditional Japanese way. Today, Yasuhide Maeda is in charge of the Motokyuuichi forge and we are proud to collaborate with him to offer you quality Japanese knives at a fair price!
The Bunka is a general-purpose knife with a straighter edge profile than a santoku, which makes the rocking motion more difficult to perform. However, this knife is perfect for use with the push-cut or pull-cut method. The fine tip of the Bunka will give you precision and agility as it will pass through the food more easily when cutting.
Ginsan translates to : "silver number 3", this type of steel falls into the category of stainless steels and is therefore easier to maintain than traditional carbon steels. Ginsan is one of the only stainless steels that can be forged in the traditional way like high content carbon steels. This makes it one of the most pleasant stainless steels to sharpen.
Nashiji is a Japanese word meaning "pear skin pattern". Coming from a knife finishing technique where the surface of the blade is left raw or rustic, imitating the skin of the Asian pear.
