Tsunehisa Ichi Blue #2 Tsuchime Nashiji Santoku 180mm

This item qualifies for Free International Shipping. If your country doesn't show up at checkout, please contact us via Instagram, we will add it for you.

Tsunehisa translates to "Permanence", named after the idea that good knives will last you a lifetime. The brand prioritises functionality and affordability - resulting in a carefully curated selection of knives that anyone can appreciate. Tsunehisa's knives are made by a collective of blacksmiths and sharpeners across Sakai, Tosa and Seki. The brand was founded by Takayuki Shibata, world reknown for being an excellent knife sharpener and also the founder of Masakage, Koutetsu & Tinker. Over the years, Shibata-san has built close relations with many skilled blacksmiths across Japan, playing a huge role in growing the presence of Japanese kitchen knives internationally.

The Tsunehisa Ichi Series has an Aogami 2 core and stainless steel cladding, which combines the best properties of both types of steel. Carbon steel offers an excellent cutting performance due to its fine grain structure and high hardenability, allowing carbon steel knives to get sharper and stay sharper for longer. However, it runs into a major downside - rust. That's where the stainless cladding comes into play. While the cutting edge is carbon steel, it is sandwiched between 2 layers of stainless steel which as its name implies, is highly rust resistant. The end result is a knife that cuts like a carbon steel but with much less maintenance.

Not only is the area of exposed carbon steel minimised, the stainless steel cladding actually speeds up the development of protective patina on the carbon steel, resulting in much less rusting overall. After some use, the exposed carbon steel will turn dark grey and create a dark wavy pattern on the edge of the blade. We find this look really pleasing and it's something unique to stainless clad knives.

Blade Type: Santoku
Core: Aogami 2 (Blue 2) Carbon Steel
Cladding: Stainless Steel
Handle: Black Pakka
Spine Thickness at Heel: 1.9mm
HRC: 61-63
Weight: 157g
Blade Length: 179mm
Overall Length: 303mm