Yoshiaki Fujiwara 240mm Gyuto 菊竜

Yoshiaki Fujiwara - 菊竜 Kikuryu (Chrysanthemum dragon)

These beautiful knives are made by Mr. Kiyoshi Kato, born 1944 in Tokyo. He began swordsmith training in 1964, at the age of 20, and is currently a licensed sword smith. He now uses his incredible collection of very old, and difficult to obtain, Tamahagane steels to form his own sword masterpieces.

He entered the field of knife making in 1977 by creating his first hunting and kitchen knives, and currently makes knives in his new Hokuto City workshop, found in the Yamanashi Prefecture.

Mr. Kato uses a special quenching technique, utilizing charcoal and water, which imparts an extra degree of hardness not often seen in regular clad knives.This gives all of his kitchen knives a feel very similar to Honyaki, incredibly stiff with little to no flex!

I have been testing his kitchen knives for some time now, and must admit that they are incredible masterpieces in their own form and function!


Steel: Carbon Clad (can rust !! )
Handle: Octoganal Shape Burned Chestnut with buffalo horn

Approx.. measurements:

Handle Length- 145mm
Handle Width- 20mm
Handle to Tip Length- 405mm
Heel to Tip Length- 245mm
Blade Height at Heel- 54mm
Width of Spine at Handle- 5,5mm
Width of Spine Above Heel- 4,5mm
Width of Spine at Middle- 2mm
Width of Spine 1cm from the tip- 0,5mm

Weight- 270g

All knives JNS cary is handmade and made one by one, so they can vary in size and thickness. Unevenness in finish can occur.