鋼 Hagane Reserves

鋼の記録

Publication

Field notes on the makers we honour — the steel, the forging, and the table each blade is made for.

鋼

japanese knife rental indonesia

The Security Deposit: Where It Sits, and How It Comes Back

The deposit is the number that makes people pause - so here is its entire journey: why it exists, when you pay it, and exactly how it comes back to you.

Read →
Your First Japanese Knife: Why the Whole Table Notices

first japanese knife

Your First Japanese Knife: Why the Whole Table Notices

Carving a roast with a real Japanese knife changes a dinner — one pull, one clean face, every eye on the board. Why hosts and private chefs should feel it once.

Read →
From Swordsmiths to Knifemakers: A Japanese Craft History

japanese knife rental indonesia

From Swordsmiths to Knifemakers: A Japanese Craft History

How Japan's swordsmiths became kitchen-knife makers — the 1876 sword ban, the postwar license system, and honyaki's sword roots.

Read →
Hiromune Takaba: A Licensed Swordsmith's Kitchen Knives

japanese knife rental indonesia

Hiromune Takaba: A Licensed Swordsmith's Kitchen Knives

Meet Hiromune Takaba, the licensed Seki swordsmith behind the Miyabi line's in-house laminate damascus kitchen knives.

Read →
Yoshikazu Ikeda: Sakai's Honyaki Master, Still Forging

japanese knife rental indonesia

Yoshikazu Ikeda: Sakai's Honyaki Master, Still Forging

Inside Yoshikazu Ikeda's honyaki craft in Sakai — water- and oil-quenched White and Blue steel, the wave and Mt. Fuji hamon, still at the anvil near 80.

Read →
Kyohei Shindo: Tosa's Hammer-Forged S-Grind Laser

japanese knife rental indonesia

Kyohei Shindo: Tosa's Hammer-Forged S-Grind Laser

Kyohei Shindo forges Aogami #2 kurouchi in Tosa with an S-grind hammered into the steel, not ground out — the hook chefs keep talking about.

Read →
Specialty Japanese Knives Every Chef Should Know

sobakiri knife

Specialty Japanese Knives Every Chef Should Know

Sobakiri, unagisaki, maguro bocho, hamokiri, suikakiri — the wonderful, hyper-specific Japanese knives built for one job and one job only.

Read →
Unusual Japanese Knife Shapes That Perform

sakimaru takobiki

Unusual Japanese Knife Shapes That Perform

Sakimaru takobiki, kiritsuke, honyaki hamon — the dramatic Japanese knife profiles built to command a counter, and the honest story behind each.

Read →
Single-Bevel Japanese Knives Explained for Chefs

single bevel japanese knife

Single-Bevel Japanese Knives Explained for Chefs

Yanagiba, usuba, deba, mukimono — how single-bevel geometry and urasuki deliver the precision of washoku, and the Kanto vs Kansai split behind it.

Read →
Katsuramuki and the Usuba Family Explained

japanese knife rental indonesia

Katsuramuki and the Usuba Family Explained

What katsuramuki is, why the usuba's flat single-bevel face makes it possible, and the usuba variants a chef should know.

Read →
Japanese Double-Bevel Knives: A Chef's Guide

double bevel japanese knife

Japanese Double-Bevel Knives: A Chef's Guide

Gyuto, santoku, bunka, nakiri, sujihiki and more — how double-bevel Japanese knives divide the work on a real board, for chefs in Indonesia.

Read →
Hado and Enjiki: Sakai's Sharpener-Led Knife Story

japanese knife rental indonesia

Hado and Enjiki: Sakai's Sharpener-Led Knife Story

How a Sakai wholesale house's Hado brand and a sales rep turned master sharpener, Tadataka Maruyama, prove the togishi is half the knife.

Read →
Aogami Blue Steel Explained: Grades, Retention, Service Fit

japanese knife rental indonesia

Aogami Blue Steel Explained: Grades, Retention, Service Fit

What aogami (blue paper steel) adds to white steel's formula, how the grades differ, and what that means for a chef choosing an edge.

Read →
Hatsukokoro: The Curator Brand Chefs Call Lasers

japanese knife rental indonesia

Hatsukokoro: The Curator Brand Chefs Call Lasers

Inside Hatsukokoro's curator model — the Sakai, Tosa, Sanjo and Seki workshops behind its lines, and why chefs call the grind a laser.

Read →
5 Japanese Knife Finishes Explained: What Kurouchi Really Is

japanese knife rental indonesia

5 Japanese Knife Finishes Explained: What Kurouchi Really Is

What kurouchi, kasumi, migaki, tsuchime, and damascus actually are, how each is made, and what each does on the board.

Read →
Shirogami White Steel Explained: Purity, Grades, Honyaki

japanese knife rental indonesia

Shirogami White Steel Explained: Purity, Grades, Honyaki

What shirogami (white paper steel) is, why Sakai smiths prize its purity, and what it means to sharpen and care for it in a working kitchen.

Read →
SG2 / R2 Powdered Steel: Powder Metallurgy for Cooks

japanese knife rental indonesia

SG2 / R2 Powdered Steel: Powder Metallurgy for Cooks

How SG2/R2 powdered stainless is made, why 62-64 HRC stainless holds an edge so long, and where it genuinely struggles.

Read →
V-Toku2 Steel Explained: Takefu's Tungsten Carbon Steel

japanese knife rental indonesia

V-Toku2 Steel Explained: Takefu's Tungsten Carbon Steel

What V-Toku2 is, how it compares to Blue #2, and what it takes to keep this carbon edge working through service.

Read →
Tojiro: Inside the Tsubame-Sanjo Workhorse Brand

japanese knife rental indonesia

Tojiro: Inside the Tsubame-Sanjo Workhorse Brand

How Tojiro went from farm equipment to a chef's first VG10 gyuto — the Tsubame-Sanjo factory story and full line hierarchy, explained.

Read →
Myojin Naohito: The Togishi Who Finishes Blades in Tosa

Myojin Naohito

Myojin Naohito: The Togishi Who Finishes Blades in Tosa

Myojin Naohito is a Tosa-based togishi known for precision thin grinds, the unsung second hand behind some of Japan's most respected blades.

Read →
Satoshi Nakagawa: The Sakai Smith Behind a Blue Steel Damascus Santoku

Satoshi Nakagawa

Satoshi Nakagawa: The Sakai Smith Behind a Blue Steel Damascus Santoku

Satoshi Nakagawa is a young Sakai smith trained under Kenichi Shiraki, known for Blue Steel damascus blades forged with precision and patience.

Read →
How to Care for Japanese Knives: A Practical Guide for Carbon and Stainless Blades

how to care for Japanese knives

How to Care for Japanese Knives: A Practical Guide for Carbon and Stainless Blades

How to care for Japanese knives: patina versus rust, drying, cutting boards, saya storage, and when a piece needs professional sharpening.

Read →
Honyaki vs Damascus: What Japanese Knives Ask of Their Steel

honyaki vs damascus Japanese knives

Honyaki vs Damascus: What Japanese Knives Ask of Their Steel

Honyaki vs damascus Japanese knives explained: mono-steel honyaki with a real hamon, damascus and suminagashi lamination, and san-mai construction.

Read →
Ryuhyo: drift ice, written in steel

Ryuhyo

Ryuhyo: drift ice, written in steel

Every winter, the sea itself drifts a thousand kilometres south to Hokkaido. Hatsukokoro named this blade after that arrival — and began it as a cloud of steel powder.

Read →
Kujaku: the peacock hidden in steel

Kujaku

Kujaku: the peacock hidden in steel

A peacock's color isn't pigment — it's structure. This blade earns its shimmer the same way: copper and brass, folded into the steel itself.

Read →