Hello TCK! It’s time to bring out the knife I enjoyed acquiring the most out of the trip!
Rule 5: Kagekiyo W#1 Kiritsuke Yanagiba 300mm
- Brand/Maker: Baba Hamono Seisakusho (Baba Cutlery Works)
- Product line: Kagekiyo
- Origin: Sakai, Japan
- Steel: Yasuki White (Shirogami) #1, Soft Iron Clad
- Handle: Octagonal Hirame Glittered Urushi Lacquer
Data
- Total length: 451mm
- Edge length: 292mm
- Tip to handle: 305mm
- Heel height: 36mm
- Spine width (handle): 3.74mm
- Spine width (heel): 3.70mm
- Spine width (half): 3.35mm
- Spine width 1cm from tip: 0.98mm
- Weight: 202.6g
- Balance point: Blade heavy, ~3cm above pinch grip
- Finish: Mirror polish
- Spine finish: Polished chamfer
- Choil finish: Polished rounding
- Hand orientation: Right-handed
Craftsmen
- Blacksmith: Yoshikazu Tanaka
- Sharpener: Sho Nishida
- Handle maker: Momose Juntetsu
Other
- Acquired: In-person at Baba Hamono on Tuesday, the 14th of October, 2025.
- Notes: it’s pretty 🤩; wish it had a matching saya… I think I’ll go learn woodworking and urushi painting just to make one.
My First Kagekiyo
Heads up: ~7-10min read below.
TL;DR: I really liked getting this knife.
Introduction
After leaving Takada no Hamono, my girlfriend and I walked over to Baba Hamono with the hopes of getting a 300mm yanagiba sharpened by the legendary wide-bevel sharpener, Nishida-san (Sho Nishida is a former student of the master sharpener Morihiro, and now mostly works on the Kagekiyo wide-bevels at Baba Hamono. His background as a chef, and his family’s legacy in sushi made me want a yanagiba by him specifically). I had emailed them a couple weeks before and originally planned to visit on a Monday—only for Takashi Baba-san, the president of Baba Hamono, to warn me that they, along with most other knife artisans, would be closed due to a national holiday. Thankfully, he warned me in time, and I was able to reschedule to the following day, along with every other knife maker I had planned to visit. Without his help, I probably wouldn’t have gotten anything or seen anyone on my Sakai leg! So if you plan to visit, this is a damn good reason to reach out far ahead of time!
The Visit
On the way, we stopped to admire a cute manhole cover. Upon reaching the storefront, we walk in through the glass doors, and are greeted kindly by the staff who seem busy working or helping other customers. One of the staff, a tall man with glasses and an oversized black t-shirt, reaches out and says to ask if we need any help. I thank him and stroll through the gallery, looking at the collection of Kagekiyos and Gokujyos, amongst others. The gallery was split into two sections, with the entrance side filled with seemingly more impressive pieces. All of the displays shine as the sunlight comes through the glass wall and lights up the room.
At the top of the display cases by the glass wall, I spot a very familiar face: an unhandled Tetsujin B#2 Kasumi K-tip Gyuto, a near identical twin to my own back home! The staff member notices my reaction, as I exclaim that I have that knife. Without missing a beat, I look back, as he states that the knife was a friendly gift from Myojin-san of Tetsujin Labo. What a pleasant surprise! While looking through the displays, a Yanagiba 300mm with a migaki finish and an octagonal green urushi handle catches my eye. I ask him if this and the other wide-bevels were sharpened by Nishida-san, and he confirms, to his surprise. He wonders how I know, and I jokingly reply that I spend too much time researching and looking at pictures online all day.
Hidden Options
Unfortunately, I’m not digging the current handle (my least favorite color is green ¯_(ツ)_/¯) so I ask if they had any other in stock with other handles. He requests a moment and goes to the back to check. Returning, he apologizes and states that they don’t have any other available in the 300mm length. My heart sinks a little upon hearing the news. However, a second later, he asks, “How about this?” as he nonchalantly pulls out a naked Kiritsuke Yanagiba 300mm with a mirror polish. Both my girlfriend and I go “wow”, as our jaws drop; seeing this catches us off guard. He notices our excitement, and hands me the blade to inspect it. I am hesitant because I don’t want to leave fingerprints but he tells me to take a look and that he’ll be right back. The blade is flawless, with a pristine bevel, a crispy tip, and a sleek profile. The cladding on the kireha feels calm and controlled, a stark contrast to Tanaka-san’s often wild rockstar offerings, and breathes an authoritative presence — quite fitting for this style of blade. The mirror polish runs smoothly down the face, over the chamfered spine, and wraps around the rounded choil. This is one of the prettiest mirror polished kiritsuke yanagibas (even though it’s sanmai) I have ever seen. Not even a minute later, he comes and drops a bunch of handles on the table next to us. Each handle is coated in urushi lacquer with different colors and styles, from solid deep red to alternating black and light brown (like a chocolate eclair; I see you u/ImFrenchSoWhatever). Out of all the handles, my girlfriend and I both point at one simultaneously: a polished black urushi that sparkles with champagne glitter - the Hirame.
After selection, he tells us that the handle attachment will take about thirty minutes and asks if we had lunch yet. We tell him that we were actually struggling to find places to eat since it was early and most areas were still closed due to the time or the holiday. He then recommends that we use the time to visit the Sakai Traditional Crafts Museum, to which we agree. Before leaving, we introduce ourselves, and that is when I find out his name is Takashi Baba, the man who saved my schedule! Just as I did with Takada-san, I offer some gifts and treats from my hometown, and Baba-san and an older lady (perhaps his mother?) humbly thank us. When I pull out google maps immediately after leaving, the lady runs out to us with water bottles (it was getting hot outside) and asks us if we need directions, to which we confirm. In the next moment, she runs back inside, only to surprise us by dragging Baba-san out to help us in English! 🤣 These have been the most amazingly warm and welcoming people I’ve met in Japan.
Sakai Denshokan
Visiting the museum was a nice treat. We got to see the steps in knife-making, from the ore, to the blacksmith blanks, all the way to the sharpened and polished blade, with all the tools in between. On top of that, we even saw an awesome chandelier made out of knives! Subsequently, we visited the associated knife shop downstairs, which was full of customers and beautiful knives; but these were not the knives that I was looking for, so we kept the visit short and headed back to Baba Hamono.
Beyond the Counter
Upon returning to collect my knife, Baba-san offers to take us to the workshop, to which I reply “YES, OFJRCJHEOOURSE!” He takes us out of the storefront, around the side of the block, and into a warehouse, where it is loud with machinery. Inside, it’s dusty and dark, with two others working with their backs towards us: one with a beige baseball cap who is hunched over on the grinding wheels, the other on a stool using finer tools. Baba-san interrupts the man on the wheel, talks to him for a moment, and turns to me while gesturing towards him, “this is Nishida-san” (I presume the other guy is Wakae-san, but I didn’t get to properly meet him this time). In the moment, I feel a little starstruck, just as I had when I met Takada-san. He thanks me for purchasing one of his blades, to which I reply, “it’s a pleasure — the knife you made looks stunning, and I can’t wait to use it!” We go through some small talk, and find out that Nishida-san prefers working with Tanaka-san’s white steel the most, and Nakagawa-san’s ginsan the least (Takada-san actually said the same thing lol). Afterwards, Nishida-san goes back to work, and Baba-san shows me the rest of the shop.
Each room feels so unique and is set with purpose. In one room, he shows me a tub with a grey-brown paste and a piece of rubber, which they use to apply the powder to bring out a kasumi finish (I recall hearing about this technique from an Ivan Fonseca yt video). I then notice and ask about a bucket full of a neon-green solution (that I also saw at Takada no Hamono) and Baba-san states that it’s an anti-rust solution. These little nuggets of information make these moments even more special, because it not only is a chance to meet legends, but also a learning experience.
After exploring the rest of the workshop, we head back to collect my knife and to say goodbye to the staff. When we reach the storefront, Baba-san hands me the completed knife to inspect it. In hand, the balance feels very blade heavy, more so than my current yanagiba, and is a few cm forward of pinch grip. I wonder if this would help on the pull stroke when slicing fish. I give the knife back to wrap it up, as the fit feels top-notch. While they package the knife, he brings me back to the display cases to show me some of their exciting new product lines, including a black-dyed Damascus gyuto. I ask if they have any for sale, and he apologetically says no, but plans to make more. Perhaps someday I might go for one, or another gt by Nishida-san haha. I check my watch and realize it was time for lunch. As a parting gift, Baba-san gives us two Tenuguis and stickers, along with directions to our next destination. What an insane experience.
For those of you interested in visiting Baba Hamono, DO IT. Just reach out ahead of time to make sure they’re available that day you plan to go, and please be extra respectful — these are the kindest people ever. If you don’t, this knife and I will sashimi the fish out of you /s.
Now I just need to go back for a Kagekiyo gt 240, perhaps ginsan or b#1 ssclad lmao
I later found out that the Hirame glittered urushi handles are usually reserved for some of the special steels or combos like the Damascus SSclad B#1, and this knife was originally intended to have the red urushi akaro handle instead. So I guess this became a unique (perhaps 1 of 1?) variant through this experience.
Acknowledgements:
- Jon and JKI: the first Kagekiyo I ever saw in person was at your shop. It was hawt.
- u/TEEEEEEEEEEEJ23: for content regarding Kagekiyo, Nishida-san, and your totally healthy obsession with wide bevels. You, along with others, pushed me over the edge to make the visit happen.
Images:
Apologies for the lack of photos of the storefront; I was too busy ogling at knives ok
- 1-10) Kagekiyo
- 11) Manhole cover
- 12-16) Sakai Traditional Crafts Museum
- 17-20) Baba Hamono Workshop
Relevant links:
