Takamura
Takamura
This family from Echizen (Fukui Prefecture) consists of father Toshiyuki Takamura San and three sons (Terukazu, Hideo). The forge was recently taken over by the eldest son Terukazu Takamura San. The family makes very good and professional knives that are used by Albert Adrià, Gordon Ramsay, Sean Brock, Ren`e Redzepi, Mark Best, David Chang, Chef Narisawa, Hiromi Yamada, Chef Ochiai from La Bettola, Iron Chef Sakai and Chef Nakamura.
In a Swedish test, the Takamura knives came out best in the test.
Takamura is regarded as one of the leading forges in Japan, their developments and innovations are closely followed. Takamura knives are difficult to obtain and generally have a long delivery time. Each knife is forged by hand and the production capacity is very limited.
The Takamura knives are available in 5 series:
- R2 Mikagi (SG-2 / R2 powder steel and red pakkawood handle)
- VG-10 Mikagi (VG-10 steel with Tsuchime (hammer blow) and black pakkawood handle)
- R2 Pro (SG-2 / R2 powder steel and black pakkawood handle)
- Uchigumo Suminagashi (SG-2 / R2 powder steel with damask and black pakka wood handle)
- Hana Damascus (SG-2 / R2 powder steel with damask and traditional octagonal handle)
Most knives are made with R2 powder steel in the core (This steel is also called HSPS or SG-2 steel). This special stainless steel powder gives the Takamura knives a very high hardness (62-64 HrC), but the knives can easily be sharpened yourself.
The blade of the R2 series is made of SG-2 / R2 steel in the core with a layer of stainless steel on the outside. This sanmai forging technique ensures that the core steel is protected against breakage and oxidation. The R2 Mikagi series has a somewhat thinner core layer, making this series very affordable. The Uchigumo and Hana series have a thick R2 core layer with a damask steel outer layer. The affordable VG-10 series is made of VG-10 steel in the core with 2 layers of softer steel for the outside. The blade is provided with a beautiful hammered pattern (Tsuchime) which helps prevent sticking to the blade. The hardness of the VG-10 knives is between 60 and 61 HRc.
The R2 pro, Uchigumo and Hana knives are not available from stock. We do not know the deleivery times on these blades are we are not able to reserve these blades at the moment.
