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Honyaki Knives: The Pinnacle of Quality
What are the sharpest kitchen knives out there?
This is a question we see often. But, we like to reframe it more as what are the knives out there that have the best cutting performance and ability?
Japanese has a term for this - kireaji, translated as literally the flavor of cutting. This means more than just cutting performance though; edge retention, balance, and other factors like very straightforwardly how it feels to use are all part of this term.
Honyaki knives are at the peak of kireaji. Made by only a few people and crafted by hand, these are the peak of performance for any chef, and a knife that will last for lifetimes if cared for.
Table of Contents
- What is a Honyaki Kitchen Knife?
- How are Honyaki Knives Made?
- Differences Between Honyaki and Non-Honyaki Knives
- The Two Kinds of Honyaki Knife
- Why Buy a Honyaki Kitchen Knife
- Nakagawa Satoshi - Sakai's Youngest Mizuyaki Bladesmith
- The Future of Honyaki Knifemaking
- Double-Sided Honyaki Kitchen Knives
- Recommended Honyaki Kitchen Knives
What is a Honyaki Kitchen Knife?
Honyaki (本焼) refers to a type of knifemaking technique and literally translated means true forging. Very few people can make a honyaki knife, which is a testament to their excellence.
There are many ways Japanese kitchen knives are made. See the below for some of the more common kinds of professional kitchen knife making techniques.
Full Steel / Zenkō (全鋼) Knives
A single layer of pre-made hard steel has a knife shape stamped out via a die machine, which is then quenched, cooled, and tempered. This is then sharpened by hand into a functional knife. This type of knife is sometimes also called an All-Steel or Mono-Steel knife.
As this knife only has one layer, it has good cutting performance and edge retention.
However, this type of knife can chip quite easily as there is no soft protective iron layer. It can also be difficult to tell a Full Steel knife apart from a Mass Production knife from appearance alone.
Examples: SWORD-FV10 Gyuto, TEN Kiritsuke-Petty, G-LINE Deba
You can watch a video on how we make some of our zenkō knives here!
Dual Composite / Warikomi (割込) Knives
A single layer of pre-made hard steel is heated up, then inserted into a bed of soft iron, which is sharpened by hand into a functional knife.
This type of knife is known for its price, being relatively inexpensive yet still full of handmade elements.
However, this type of knife has a shorter lifespan due to the hard steel only going halfway into the soft iron. The knife will stop cutting after about half of it has been sharpened away.
Examples: None, we do not sell this type of knife.
Cladded / Kuraddo (クラッド) Knives
A pre-made laminated steel consisting of three layers has a knife shape stamped out via a die machine, with hard cutting steel for the inner layer, and soft protective iron for the outer layers. This is heat treated, then sharpened by hand into a functional knife, with a small pattern indicating the difference in layers near the cutting edge.
This is a very common style of Japanese kitchen knife, as it is easy to apply finishes like Damascus Steel or Tsuchime on (other knife types can have such finishes as well, though). It is also more resistant to rust and cracks, and easier to inspect sharpening work on.
However, it is more difficult to bring out a razor sharp cutting edge on this type of knife when sharpening, and it cannot be made as or converted into a single-edge knife.
Examples: Chromax Wa-Santoku, Blue Steel #2 Kiyoshi Nakiri, Blue Steel Super Kuro Sujihiki
Forge-Welded Double-Edged / Ryōba Tanzō (両刃鍛造) Knives
Forge-welded knives are fully handmade, bonding a piece of soft iron and hard steel together through forging it with a hammer, and using various heat based techniques to bring out the knife's true potential. This type of knife has a layer of hard cutting steel in the middle, surrounded by a layer of soft iron on both sides.
These blades will normally be stronger than cladded knives, and are more associated with modern Sakai knifemaking, yet still using traditional techniques.
However, their quality is greatly influenced by the craftspeople that work on them, and they cost more because of a lack of supply. Handmade knives take more time, after all.
Examples: Kirameki VG-10 Suzuchirashi Wa-Petty, VG-10 Ikazuchi Damascus Sujihiki, White Steel #2 Gokujo Wa-Gyuto
Forge-Welded Single-Edged / Kataba Tanzō (片刃鍛造) Knives
Unlike the rest of the knives above, this is a single-edged knife. This means they must be made differently.
Forge-welded knives are fully handmade, bonding a piece of soft iron and hard steel together through forging it with a hammer, and using various heat based techniques to bring out the knife's true potential. This type of knife has a layer of hard cutting steel on the back or ura and a layer of soft protective iron on the front or omote. You may also see this referred to as a Kasumi Awase knife, or Kasumi-yaki knife.
This type of knife is known for being very strong, and for having very high cutting performance. This type of knife is highly associated with traditional Sakai knifemaking.
However, this knife is more delicate than its double-edged counterpart, and you need to get used to cutting straight as they naturally cut slightly inwards. These cannot be converted into double-edged knives without severely compromising the knife's integrity.
Examples: White Steel #1 Montanren Deba, Blue Steel #2 Hongasumi Kamagata-Usuba, Silver Steel #3 Hakugin Yanagiba
You can watch a video on how we forge-weld some of our knives here!
But where do honyaki knives fit into this equation?
Honyaki knives are made from one type of steel (much like full steel knives), but are fully handmade and use traditional forging methods (much like forge welded knives).
This gives honyaki knives some of the benefits from both full steel and forge welded knives! However, honyaki knives have other merits unique to them as well, which is what truly associates them with the best of the best when it comes to the world of Japanese kitchen knives.
One other major characteristic of honyaki knives is only a very small amount of people in Japan can forge them, of which most are concentrated in Sakai, Osaka.
How are Honyaki Knives Made?
Honyaki knives are made much the same way forge-welded knives are, with some differences to bring out their luster best. While these knives are made in a similar fashion, the difficulty of forging honyaki knives is significantly higher, with a larger failure rate even amongst those with experience. It is worth the effort though, as the knives that come out successfully are some of the bests in the world!
Using traditional techniques honed over generations, steel is forged with hammers, shaped into the right form, then distortions are removed and a blade is brought out.
As most honyaki are made in Sakai (Osaka Prefecture), the knife itself will pass through the hands of multiple different artisans before it winds up on a store shelf. This is normal for Sakai-made forge-welded knives, which go through what we call division of labor.
Once hammered into shape, the single piece of hard cutting steel is further heated, then cooled very quickly. This cooling process also known as quenching is done using either oil or water, which we'll cover in the next section.
A special mud-like clay solution is applied to the knife steel during the creation process. This controls the blade's hardness levels at certain parts during its heat treatment, similarly to how Japanese swords are traditionally made. The difference in hardness across the blade creates a wavy pattern, often called a hamon line, also often seen on Japanese swords. You can see that in the example below.
Everything else in the creative process is similar to how forge-welded knives are made, just with more delicacy and care as these knives can crack or break easily during the creative process.
What's Different Between Honyaki and Non-Honyaki Knives?
While a honyaki knife and a non-honyaki knife can look similar, they are different in so many ways. There are benefits and demerits to both styles of knife, so look at these comparisons to help decide what is best for you.
HONYAKI KNIVES ONLY HAVE ONE STEEL
The largest difference is that like Mono-Steel knives, honyaki knives are made of just hard cutting steel or hagane. However, what makes honyaki knives unique is they are the only kind of single-steel knife that is forged. Mono-Steel knives are associated with being stamped knives instead, using pre-made steel cut from a die machine, then sharpened by hand after the fact.
In a manner of speaking, honyaki knives are the only Japanese single-steel knife type that is one hundred percent hand made.
The soft protective iron or jigane you will find on other forge-welded knives and cladded knives isn't found on honyaki knives.
HONYAKI KNIVES RETAIN MORE CARBON
Carbon is the key element that makes knives hard (and thus able to be made sharp), and single-steel knives lose less of it in production compared to multi-steel ones.
When two metals are bonded together via forge welding, a process occurs called solid state diffusion. Solid state diffusion is the movement of atoms from one solid item to another. While this is a very slow process, it does somewhat even material levels out between steels.
This is important in knifemaking because carbon diffuses from the hard steel to the soft iron. This can slightly reduce a knife's hardness, and alter its performance.
Honyaki knives do not suffer from solid state diffusion, as there is no second metal to diffuse to. So, this means compared to other forge-welded knives honyaki knives will generally have carbon levels more around what was originally intended.
Some carbon is always lost when a knife is made through a process called decarburization, so you cannot fully stop this from occuring. Honyaki knives lose less carbon overall though because solid state diffusion does not happen. They also suffer less decarburization because...
HONYAKI KNIVES CAN BE FORGED AT LOWER TEMPERATURES AND HAMMERED MORE
Normally, knives made from two kinds of steel need high temperatures to bond them together. Honyaki knives, being made from only one steel, don't need the temperature to go as high. Being forged at a lower temperature however means the steel needs more hammering. This is actually a good thing, as the extra hammering creates a more uniform metal structure, improving overall performance.
Some non-honyaki knives are forged at lower temperatures, like our White Steel #2 Kasumi Tan Series. However, this low temperature forging technique can only be performed by very experienced craftsmen, and is also quite time-consuming, making it perfect for honyaki knives.
HONYAKI KNIVES HAVE LESS IMPURITIES
Iron powder is also used as a flux to bond the hagane and jigane together, which is an impurity mostly removed during the forge welding process. Solid state diffusion introduces some of that impurity into both knife metals, but also leeches carbon from the hard steel, which is removed when the forge welding eliminates most of the iron powder.
Honyaki knives are made using low alloy or pure steels with fewer impurities for the most part (such as White Steel #2, White Steel #1, and Blue Steel #1), which creates a knife that performs more as originally intended by the craftsman. This iron powder is not used so the impurity is never introduced, which prevents that carbon loss from occuring.
HONYAKI KNIVES ARE LESS PRONE TO DISTORTION
When a knife is crafted by combining hard steel with softer iron, the difference in hardness can cause the blade to bend over time. As honyaki knives do not have this issue, this makes them more resilient to warps or unintentional bending.
HONYAKI KNIVES ARE MORE BRITTLE
Honyaki knives have no soft protective iron shielding them, so they are more brittle than other knives. However, if made correctly, they still have resilience and this demerit can be somewhat negated. Artisanship is needed to create a honyaki knife that is still tough.
HONYAKI KNIVES ARE DIFFICULT TO SHARPEN
As honyaki knives are more brittle, this also makes them significantly more difficult to sharpen. Their hardness levels mean there is more resistance in the sharpening stage, but sharpeners also have to be delicate with the knife so it does not crack. This is especially important when re-shaping the knife, or changing its bevel to accommodate for lost steel from sharpening.
People may take their knife to a sharpening specialist when it comes time to sharpen a honyaki knife, like our master sharpener Marumachi Yasuo. Thankfully, honyaki knives only need very occasional sharpening.
HONYAKI KNIVES COST MORE
Honyaki knives are at the pinnacle of knifemaking difficulty, and can only be made by a few people. Even less people can forge the more difficult mizu-honyaki style. It takes a long time to become a knifesmith, but even longer to be able to forge knives using any honyaki method.
As better artisans with more experience are used throughout the entire process, more time is spent on this delicate procedure. Failure rates are higher, so price is higher too to factor in for the knives that didn't make it.
You may pay anywhere from three to five times the price for a honyaki knife compared to a non-honyaki version.
That said, a great way to assure yourself that a knife is being made by a master is to look for a honyaki one, as others simply would not be able to do it. A honyaki knife is a guarantee of quality, provided you are getting it from a reliable merchant. For many people around the world, this price is still worth it because it is a knife they will use for the rest of their lives.
The Two Kinds of Honyaki Knife
Honyaki knives are divided into two different categories, depending on whether they are quenched using water or oil. This quenching difference changes the overall hardness of the knife, the appearance, the price, and even the failure rate. One is much harder to make than the other.
Both water-based and oil-based honyaki are high quality, but have different specialties. Read below to find out more!
- MIZU HONYAKI (WATER-BASED)
- ABURA HONYAKI (OIL-BASED)
Honyaki knives quenched in water are called Mizu Honyaki, Mizu-yaki, or just water quenched honyaki knives. You will often seen 水本焼 (mizu-hon-yaki) stamped on the back of a kitchen knife if it is made via this method. This stamp is a status symbol in itself.
All Sakai Ichimonji Mitsuhide Honyaki knives are Mizu Honyaki knives.
Compared to Abura (oil-based) Honyaki knives, Mizu Honyaki knives have a significantly higher rate of failure during production, as the water quenching process drops the temperature of the forged steel very quickly, sometimes causing it to crack. Even masters of knifemaking will fail making mizu honyaki knives sometimes.
Additionally, this is an incredibly difficult skill to perform. According to Nakagawa Satoshi, at this point in time there are only three active blacksmiths forging them, of which he is one of them and by far the youngest!
This, combined with the difficulty and higher failure rate, makes Mizu Honyaki knives rare, and as a result more costly.
However, they are significantly harder than Abura Honyaki knives, and for those seeking perfection in kireaji they are without match.
Some forgers can still bring out beautiful patterns on Mizu Honyaki as well. Those kinds of knives are seen as the best of the best in both beauty and function.
Honyaki knives quenched in oil are called Abura Honyaki, Abura-yaki, or just oil quenched honyaki knives.
Quenching in oil cools the blade slower compared to doing so in water, reducing the risk of cracking during production and lowering the failure rate.
These knives are more difficult to achieve superior hardness levels on, so they may not perform the same as a Mizu Honyaki. This is not to say they do not perform well! It is more like comparing first place to a somewhat distant second.
Additionally, quenching with oil tends to bring out the blade's hamon lines more prominently, giving each knife a unique, visually striking appeal.
Why Buy a Honyaki Kitchen Knife?
A honyaki knife may be what a professional chef would purchase after they have fully finished an apprenticeship. Or when they have hit where they want to in their career, they might buy a honyaki as a partner in the kitchen for the rest of their life. There is many reasons why someone may buy a knife as high-end as a honyaki knife!
Sometimes they are given to people as a congratulatory present for opening a new business, such as a sushi restaurant.
That said, much like how luxury performance cars are not the most optimal choice for everyone, these knives are not for everyone too. But we want to see everyone use them, of course!
Honyaki knives are really only most suitable for a small subsection of people, purely from a performance perspective. Many people would get better value out of buying a series of knives for the same price, or focusing on improving other parts of their knife collection as well, such as purchasing a reliable cutting board or whetstones. They are also notoriously difficult to sharpen, so you need to find a sharpener that specialises in honyaki knives, or go through the process of learning how to yourself.
While we sharpen honyaki knives here, we do charge a higher fee for it because it takes a lot longer, and requires our specialist sharpener Marumachi Yasuo to sharpen.
But for those seeking the best of the best when it comes to performance, that will last a lifetime if cared for properly - you cannot find better.
For those also seeking the most true expression of traditional Japanese kitchen knifemaking, you cannot go wrong with a honyaki knife.
A honyaki knife is more than just the knife itself, it is a story and the soul of Japanese knifemaking.
Nakagawa Satoshi - Sakai's Youngest Honyaki Knife Maker
With the reduction of knifemakers in Sakai over the years, there was a worry beginning to emerge that some knifemaking techniques would be lost. Mizu-Honyaki especially was (and still is) under risk of being lost to time as makers retire or pass away. This is something happening to many Japanese traditional crafts, and for some it is now too late.
But for knifemaking there is still lots of hope.
The introduction of a new, much younger honyaki artisan has given this art a new lease on life. Nakagawa Satoshi of Nakagawa Hamono has the record of being Sakai's youngest recognised traditional craftsman, and he is a master of the Mizu-Honyaki technique.
Nakagawa Satoshi is especially famous for his Reverse Tanto or Saka-Choji line of Mizu Honyaki. It has the beautiful, sword-like hamon lines you would normally see on Abura Honyaki knives, yet is a Mizu Honyaki forged knife with hardness to match.
That line of knife is incredibly limited, and we are honored to be the Western Japan exclusive supplier of it. Sometimes we have his mizu-honyaki works on our webstore, so feel free to take a look! We are also only one of two stores you can order this kind of knife custom-made! See our previous article on this subject for further information, or if you want to reserve one for yourself for future years.
The Future of Honyaki Knife Making
Despite the appearance of Nakagawa Satoshi, honyaki knife making is in danger. And in general, Japanese kitchen knifemaking is in danger.
Apprentices are hard to find, and training takes time. Each year there is more risk of business closures, and sometimes that is simply because there is noone willing to take the business over or learn the techniques.
Thankfully, smiths like Nakagawa Satoshi and his appentices exist which means honyaki as an art form will stay alive for some time yet. Knifemaking as an industry recognised some time ago that the art of it knifemaking is in danger if steps aren't taken to protect it.
People worldwide are appreciating honyaki knives more, too. While supply cannot keep up with demand, an increased interest gives motivation for more people to learn it.
We can only hope that the art of honyaki knives spreads and becomes bigger over the next 100 years. This is a huge part of why our educational space ICHITOI exists as well, and we hope you can visit us and be a part of that experience sometime. We also hope articles like this help educate others, so please share this to anyone curious about the art, or message us if you want us to add more sections to it.
Double-Edged Honyaki Knives
Remember how earlier up we said honyaki knives use a single piece of steel? And the image we showed is of a single-edged honyaki knife?
While significantly less common, double-edged honyaki knives exist too - infact we sell them from time to time! You may see us occasionally have a knife such as the Kirameki White Steel #2 Mizu Honyaki Gyuto.
While they are going to be double-edged like a mono-steel or stamped knife, it is important to remember that this is still a forged knife. So it will perform and act like a honyaki knife, despite still being double-edged.
Recommended Honyaki Kitchen Knives
We have a large selection of honyaki knives in our store, but online we only sell a couple. You can always message us and make a request, plus we can do custom orders as well with a message to us. For the time being though, here are some of our favorites.
Kirameki White Steel #2 Mizu Honyaki Sakimaru Yanagiba - Forged by Nakagawa Satoshi
For those seeking the best of the best, and a story to go with it. Stamped with 中川作 (made by Nakagawa) on the back, these knives have a special hamon line on the front of the knife called saka-choji or "reverse tanto", which is something associated with swords from Bizen school swordmaking. It is said that Nakagawa Satoshi is the only smith that can do this design.
While he makes these knives custom, we are also lucky enough to have them in-store for purchase from time to time. Check back often!
VG-10 Honyaki Mirror Finish Yanagiba
While honyaki knives are mostly carbon steel, this is not always the case! For those wanting a honyaki knife, and are okay with a slight performance differnce in the name of preventing rust, this VG10 honyaki is a great choice. It also has a mirror finish to bring out its luster!
White Steel #2 Mizu Honyaki Yanagiba with Mirror Finish
This kind of Mizu Honyaki is generally what chefs in high-end situations will pursue. White Steel #2 for ease of sharpening and control, a mirror finish to decrease food drag, and the hardness of water quenched steel to last a lifetime. Those less confident with polishing may go for a non mirror-finished version, which is also more commonly found.