Photography courtesy of Hinoki.
Admired of late: Japanese knives from Hinoki, a year-old Australian brand whose aim is to produce a high-quality, handmade collection of the only 30 kitchen tools that most homes would ever need.
Hinoki’s first product is a Japanese chef’s knife, whose blade is made at a family-owned forge in Osaka, Japan, that has been making knives for three generations.
Hinoki’s first product, the S1 Gyuto Chef’s Knife.
The knife with a solid American walnut wood handle, from trees grown in southwestern Missouri. The blade then goes to the in-house sharpeners, who hone the edge on a variety of wet stones.
A light wood handle of solid European oak. The knife is styled after a Japanese gyuto, a general-purpose chef’s knife.
The black handle is made of solid American walnut wood treated in the traditional shou sugi ban Japanese technique of charring wood to increase its life span and make it less susceptible to fire.
Each knife is packaged in a handmade box tied with a ribbon.
Ever heard of the superstition that giving a knife as a gift is bad luck to the recipient?
Keep the Hinoki knife in a Companion Knife Sheath, made in Australia of vegetable-tanned leather with a hand-sewn leather stitch.
Oil is necessary for the maintenance of carbon steel.