Knife Review: Takamura R2 180mm Gyuto

Let me start with a disclaimer - this is my first Japanese knife.  I am far from an expert.  There is much I don't know.  I honestly don't know much about Takamura, but I do know it's a family business and the man who runs the company now, Terukazu Takamura, is the third generation of the Takamura family to be a blacksmith.

I also know, they make crazy awesome knives.  I had never heard of them until I got a recommendation on the ChefKnives sub-reddit.

Lets get the stats out of the way, then we'll dive into it.

• Manufactuer: Takamura
• Model: R2 Gyuto, 180mm
• Materials:
• Blade: R2 core with SG2 cladding
• Handle: Pakawood
• Dimensions:
• Blade Length: 180mm / 7.09in
• Blade Height: 44mm / 1.73in
• Blade Thickness: 1.7mm / 0.07in
• Handle Length: 120mm / 4.72in
• Weight: 143g
• Price: $160

WHAT I LIKE

I like this blade, a lot, I mean, a lot lot lot.  What sets it apart from others I've used is it's thickness, or lack thereof.  The blade stock is half the thickness of my 8" Wusthof Classic chef knife, and the way the edge is made is entirely different.  Most knife blades taper from the spine down towards the cutting edge, then about 1-2mm above the edge there is a sharpened bevel that creates the cutting edge.  That bevel's inclusive angle is usually somewhere between 30-40 degrees (15 to 20 degrees per side).  This knife doesn't have that, there is no bevel, it just keeps getting thinner until there is no more steel.  The inclusive angle on this Takamura is about 8 degrees, or four degrees per side, which I measured by dropping an image into AutoCAD.  Because the blade is so thin, both the blade stock and the grind behind the edge, this knife cuts better than anything I've ever handled.  Simply put, this knife has redefined my perspective how a knife should cut.

Looking down the handle at the heal of the blade.  Look at how thin it is, and notice there is no sharpened bevel like on most knives.

Now, there's no getting past physics.  The super thin blade cuts amazingly, but I know it's not indestructible.  For heavy chopping, cutting through bone, or anything hard (like fried bits on chicken nuggets for my toddler) this isn't the knife I grab.  I use it mostly on raw fruits, veggies, and meats, tho I will use it on cooked stuff as well as long as there's no hard bits.  I have cut plenty of harder vegetables as well, like raw sweet potatoes and butternut squash.  It does fine with that.  It doesn't do fine with metal.  

Looking at the spine.  No special finishing here.

I know you really shouldn't use a knife as a bench scraper to move chopped food off the cutting board to a bowl or wherever...but I did it, was in a hurry, wasn't careful, and ran the tip of the blade into the side of our microwave.  Broke the very tip off, which pissed me off, and made me throw the diced onion out and cut up a new one because I don't know where the tiny piece of sharp metal went and I didn't want to inadvertently feed it to my family.  A few days later I fixed the tip of the knife with my Worksharp, I just reprofiled the spine to bring it down to the edge at the new tip.

Whoops.

The steel used for the core (and therefore the cutting edge) is an R2 powdered metallurgy stainless steel, it has a softer stainless cladding to add some strength and keep cost down vs making the whole thing out of R2.  It's ran hard, 62-63 on the Rockwell scale, and that hardness is what allows such a thin edge to maintain it's shape and sharpness.  I've had the knife for about five months now and use it almost daily.  I've stropped it some, but that's it, it hasn't needed sharpening yet.  I've used it on both wood and plastic cutting boards.

Both the core and the cladding are stainless-ish.  I did get some patina on the cladding at one point when I had rinsed the knife after use but guess I should have scrubbed it.  After a good wash and a scrub with a scotchbrite pad the patina was gone and hasn't returned.

You can get some corrosion on the blade if you don't clean it off well enough.

It's got a cherry stained pakawood western style handle.  I've really only used western style handles, so no complaints there.

Besides the objective you can put your hands on it and measure it sort of stuff, I also like that this is a small production mostly hand made product.  Yes, they use machines to make the knives, but they're operated by people, it's not an automated assembly line.  Check out this video to get an idea of how Takamura knives are made (I really hope they use hearing protection most of the time....).  I like knowing that skilled craftsmen put their time and energy and experience into making my knife.  Richard Sachs is a well known custom bicycle frame builder, and he has a quote that I love that applies to a lot of things, including knives:

"Technology alone is a poor substitute for experience."

WHAT I DON'T LIKE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Look, there's really nothing I don't like about this knife, hence the retitling of this section.  I have absolutely no complaints about this knife, but there are some things you should know before buying one.

First off, they can be hard to come by at times due to the low production numbers.  Also, chances are you can't go look at one in person.  There are several online retailers to choose from, I bought mine from MTC Kitchen and had a good experience, for whatever that's worth.

I have no idea what that says, but I like that it's engraved and not just printed on.

These knives are made to be used, not looked at.  It's a tool, plain and simple.  There's no fancy finishing on it, there's nothing that feels special or elegant about it.  The spine of the blade isn't finished really or ground perfectly smooth, the bolster are nothing special, etc.  That said, the fit and finish is good, there's no gaps or uneven parts or anything anywhere.  The blade scratches easily, one scrub with with a scotchbrite pad and it'll never look factory fresh again.

As I've mentioned before what makes this knife special is the thinness of the blade, but that's also it's weakness.  You need to be mindful about what you use this knife for, and if you have a heavy hand, ease up!  My wife has a tendency to push the knife down to the cutting board, then fold it over a bit while the edge is on the board to push the cut piece away...that bending load on the edge isn't good for any knife, but especially for an edge this thin, so she's not allowed to use this knife.

SUMMARY

At $160 this isn't an inexpensive knife, it's the most expensive kitchen knife I own.  You could buy three or four pretty nice well regarded chef knives for the same price.  But, they won't be as good as this one.  They won't have the edge retention the R2 steel gives you.  They won't be as thin or cut as effortlessly.  And they certainly won't be hand made by a group of expert craftsmen.  This knife is absolutely worth every penny, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys cooking and appreciates the joy of a great knife.