Fujiwara Maboroshi no Meito

Close-up view

Carbon Steel Knives Need Extra Care

Teruyasu Fujiwara IV

The knives of Teruyasu Fujiwara are one of the real darlings of Knifewear. These blades of his are remarkable. The quality of the sharpness is nearly unparalleled and the edge retention blows my mind. People regularly gasp when they slice a tomato or potato with Fujiwara san’s knives in the shop.

Swordsmith Teruyasu Fujiwara the fourth has named these knives “Visionary Sword Celebrated in Victory". A bold claim, but we feel these knives deserve all the praise they get. I’ve used Shirogami knives for years and expect a certain type of performance, but Fujiwara san’s knives blow these expectations away. It seems he is doing something magical in the forging process. In simple terms these knives stay sharper for longer than any other white carbon steel knives I’ve ever used. He definitely has a few secrets.

The Fujiwara family started as blade forgers over 130 years ago. First farm tools then swords. After WWII the production of swords was severely limited and the family turned to knives and scissors for production industries. Teruyasu Fujiwara the fourth turned to making kitchen knives as a way to re-gain some of the family’s previous glory.

This series of knives are completely hand forged by a true master. The extremely hard white carbon steel core is laminated between softer stainless steel. In my mind this is a great method of manufacturing kitchen knives. You get all the performance of carbon steel (a very long lived edge, ease of sharpening and a silkiness when cutting) without most of the maintenance issues (possible rusting). The most unique quality of these knives is the finger notch cut from the choil. When a chef holds a knife he will generally pinch the blade with the thumb and fore finger. Fujiwara san has created a finger notch to make this grip even easier for beginners and more comfortable for the more experienced. We view that little notch as training wheels for your knife. I love it when things work.

These knives are finished with a Western style pakka wood handle. Pakka wood is basically layers of rose or sandal wood bound with heaps of silicone. This type of handle is very rugged; I would say they are virtually indestructible. The handle is fixed to the tang with three rivets for strength and durability. Fujiwara knives feature a tapered tang for great balance.

Your Fujiwara san knife is in for a treat when it comes to the shop for re-sharpening. We use a series of naturally mined waterstones that make these knives sing. I find the results of using natural stones on these blades far superior to the synthetic stones we use for stainless knives. We are such knife nerds.