Great Deal on Hattori 240mm HD Damascus Gyuto Chef

[RDCollins]

World Knives has the highly regarded Hattori HD Damascus 240mm (9½-inch blade) Guyto chef's knife on sale for $167.95 plus $5.95 shipping and insurance, no tax outside of Washington State. The regular price for this knife from World Knives is $205.95; the lowest price I've found elsewhere is $184.99, although few dealers have any in stock.

The only catch is that you have to join World Knife's Gold Club to get the sale price. Membership is free, and there are no obligations other than giving them your e-mail address so they can send you messages regarding their monthly specials for club members. It's a good outfit -- I've bought many knives from them over the last few years and never had a problem. (Note -- the Gold Club link may not work until you join.)

My knife arrived a couple of days ago, and I'm extremely happy with it. Here it is: Photo

p.s. -- I have no connection with World Knives; I'm just a satisfied customer of theirs.

Edited March 12, 2009 by RDCollins (log)

[Octaveman]

The Kanji looks different than what I've known and definately different than what's pictured on their website. Not a bad deal though specially considering they are in short supply.

edited for fat finger syndrome.

Edited March 12, 2009 by Octaveman (log)

[RDCollins]

The Kanji looks different than what I've known and definately different than what's pictured on their website.  Not a bad deal though specially considering they are in short supply.

edited for fat finger syndrome.

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It's my understanding that all of Hattori's HD series knives are actually made by a subcontractor, Ryusen in Takefu City, a very high-end manufacturer, which may explain the different kanji on these knives. I have older Hattori kitchen knives (a 270mm Gyuto and a 170mm Santuko) that have yet a third version of kanji written on them. Two of my non-kitchen Hattori knives (a hunting knife and a boot knife) simply say Hattori with no kanji characters at all, and two others (a limited-edition hunting knife and a folding knife) have the word Hattori and a little square with what appear to be 4 Chinese characters inside. So, I'm not sure that there's much significance in the characters on the knives as Ichiro Hattori is not consistent in what he puts on his knives. Of course, it would help if I could read Chinese!

Edited March 12, 2009 by RDCollins (log)

[Octaveman]

Yes, I understand they are made by Ryusen. I don't understand why they would change up the kanji because it's still Hattori branded. If you look at the Ryusen Damascus knives which are exactly the same as the Hattori damascus you will see Ryusen's branded kanji on them. Ryusen also makes the Ittosai damascus knives and it's my guess that the Kikuichi damascus are also made by Ryusen as they all look exactly the same. These will all have different kanji to reflect each brand. To the best of my knowledge, there is not two seperate kanji characters stamped into Hattori branded knives made by Ryusen. I could very well be wrong as I've seen the kanji on your knife sold by a seller in Australia that he said was Hattori so now my curiosity is on alert. I've eyed Hattori non-kitchen knives. They are sure attractive. The Hattori KD I used to own was incredible. I know a knife dealer in Japan I could ask. He would know for sure.

Edited March 13, 2009 by Octaveman (log)

[RDCollins]

Yes, I understand they are made by Ryusen.  I don't understand why they would change up the kanji because it's still Hattori branded.  If you look at the Ryusen Damascus knives which are exactly the same as the Hattori damascus you will see Ryusen's branded kanji on them.  Ryusen also makes the Ittosai damascus knives and it's my guess that the Kikuichi damascus are also made by Ryusen as they all look exactly the same.  These will all have different kanji to reflect each brand.  To the best of my knowledge, there is not two seperate kanji characters stamped into Hattori branded knives made by Ryusen.  I could very well be wrong as I've seen the kanji on your knife sold by a seller in Australia that he said was Hattori so now my curiosity is on alert.  I've eyed Hattori non-kitchen knives.  They are sure attractive.  The Hattori KD I used to own was incredible.  I know a knife dealer in Japan I could ask.  He would know for sure.

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You've peaked my curiosity, and I will check further with World Knives. But I'd appreciate it if you would check with the dealer in Japan, too. I'll let you know what he says. In any case, they are excellent knives.

I've taken a closeups photo of the kanji on my three knives -- here are the links: KNIVES and KANJI

The top one is the 270mm Gyuto and the bottom is the 170mm Santuko, both of which have the same kanji, and in the middle is the 240mm Gyuto with different kanji.

'Tis a mystery wrapped in a conundrum!

Edited March 13, 2009 by RDCollins (log)

[Octaveman]

Wow, they are very different. I sent an email with the picture of the kanji too. We'll see what he says. It's 3:00 am right now in Japan so his reply might take a while. But I'll let you know. Glad this came up. Agreed too, they are really good knives.

Edited March 13, 2009 by Octaveman (log)

[RDCollins]

Wow, they are very different.  I sent an email with the picture of the kanji too.  We'll see what he says.  It's 3:00 am right now in Japan so his reply might take a while.  But I'll let you know.  Glad this came up.  Agreed too, they are really good knives.

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Thanks. Chris from World Knives said he'll contact Hattori and let me know what they say.

[Octaveman]

Here is what Koki at JCK.com told me regarding the different Kanji. Apparently they are the Japanese version of the Ryusen. Same knife still, just different name.

Yes. I have confirmed the pictures which have 2 Kanji Engraving on Ryusen Damascus

kitchen knives.

The Picture middle one has 梵天雲竜. Which is Ryusen's original Kanji engraving brand logo.

Ryusen Damascus kitchen knives have been popular in Japanese Market too, many supplier

and distributor carried Ryusen Damascus kitchen knives with different brand logo.

(Hattori company carry and supply them under Hattori brand too).

We sells Hattori HD knives on our web site. But about 2 to 4 years ago, when Hattori HD

knife got completly out of stock and required long delivery time, we introduced and sold

different logo of Ryusen Damascus kichen knives for the customers with the our

explanation and customer's agreement and permission about the different brand, engraving

type.

The one is Ryusen Brand Japanese version, the other's are kithcnen knife supplier in

Japan's own engraving logo. Previous picture's above one and below one has same Kanji

Engraving. (Person's name "TAKAHISA" in Kanji)

(Once we have sold Ryusen Damascus kitchen knives without any engraving + the customer's

request Alphabet words on our web site as Ryusen Damascus kitchen knives too)

We hope these information will help your questions. If you will have any questions ,

please feel free to contact us.

Thank you very much again for your new inquiry and your Email.

Edited March 14, 2009 by Octaveman (log)

[RDCollins]

Here is what Koki at JCK.com told me regarding the different Kanji.  Apparently they are the Japanese version of the Ryusen.  Same knife still, just different name.

Yes. I have confirmed the pictures which have 2 Kanji Engraving on Ryusen Damascus

kitchen knives.

The Picture middle one has 梵天雲竜. Which is Ryusen's original Kanji engraving brand logo. 

Ryusen Damascus kitchen knives have been popular in Japanese Market too, many supplier

and distributor carried Ryusen Damascus kitchen knives with different brand logo.

(Hattori company carry and supply them under Hattori brand too).

We sells Hattori HD knives on our web site.  But about 2 to 4 years ago, when Hattori HD

knife got completly out of stock and required  long delivery time, we introduced and sold

different logo of Ryusen Damascus kichen knives for the customers with the our

explanation and customer's agreement and permission about the different brand, engraving

type.

The one is Ryusen Brand Japanese version, the other's are kithcnen knife supplier in

Japan's own engraving logo.  Previous picture's above one and below one has same Kanji

Engraving.  (Person's name "TAKAHISA" in Kanji)

(Once we have sold Ryusen Damascus kitchen knives without any engraving + the customer's

request Alphabet words on our web site as Ryusen Damascus kitchen knives too)

We hope these information will help your questions. If you will have any questions ,

please feel free to contact us.

Thank you very much again for your new inquiry and your Email.

←

Great information! Thanks.

BTW, World Knives is now sold out of the knife.

[Hiroyuki]

Pretty interesting. If you want to know what the kanji 梵天雲竜 mean, here is some explanation:

梵天 bonten is a god.

Images of bonten

雲竜 unryu literally means dragon in cloud.

Images of unryu

The manufacturer, Ryusen (龍泉), means dragon fountain.

[RDCollins]

Pretty interesting.  If you want to know what the kanji 梵天雲竜 mean, here is some explanation:

梵天 bonten is a god.

Images of bonten

雲竜 unryu literally means dragon in cloud.

Images of unryu

The manufacturer, Ryusen (龍泉), means dragon fountain.

←

Thanks for the information.

Check this link: http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/RyusenDa...ingService.html

Does the kanji on THIS KNIFE mean Hattori?

Edited March 16, 2009 by RDCollins (log)

[RDCollins]

Koki says "Previous picture's above one and below one has same Kanji Engraving. (Person's name "TAKAHISA" in Kanji)"

By that I assume Koki means the the top and bottom knives in the photo of my knives.

Anyone know who Takahisa is?

[Hiroyuki]

Pretty interesting.  If you want to know what the kanji 梵天雲竜 mean, here is some explanation:

梵天 bonten is a god.

Images of bonten

雲竜 unryu literally means dragon in cloud.

Images of unryu

The manufacturer, Ryusen (龍泉), means dragon fountain.

←

Thanks for the information.

Check this link: http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/RyusenDa...ingService.html

Does the kanji on THIS KNIFE mean Hattori?

←

It does. The kanji are

関住唯知郎作.

関 = Seki (place name)

住 = Juu ("to live)

唯知郎 = Ichiro (first name of Ichiro Hattori)

(Hattori is spelled 服部.)

作 = Saku ("created by")

Thus, to the best of my knowledge, the kanji mean:

Created by Ichiro, who lives in Seki

[RDCollins]

Very interesting. Thank you again.

[Octaveman]

Thank you Hiroyuki for your help.

[Hiroyuki]

I can't determine who that "Takahisa" (隆久) is... Maybe Koki knows who he is.

[Octaveman]

Email sent.

[Octaveman]

Douglas, sorry this took so long. Apparently Koki's emails were not arriving in my in-box for some reason. I resent the inquiry from another email and got it back today. Here is some more info on who Takahisa is...

About TAKAHISA, it is the person's name, but the person TAKAHISA is not making knives.

TAKAHISA is president of one Japanese knife distributor.

They put their own logo TAKAHISA on Ryusen Damascus kitchen knives and some

kinds of kitchen knives. (They don't make knives).

The picture in Middle has Ryusen Kanji engraving, the item above and the item below in picture have TAKAHISA engraving logo. There are 3 blades in the picture, 2 have same engraving logo "TAKAHISA".

It boils down to too many hands in the pot wanting to make some money. Same exact knife made by Ryusen but OEM'd all over the place. Also, I asked out of curiosity if he knew why Hattori damascus knives were always out of stock but Ryusen had them in stock more often. He said he'd like to know that too.

Thanks for bringing this topic up which prompted some investigation. Good to know this info.

Cheers

[RDCollins]

Douglas, sorry this took so long.  Apparently Koki's emails were not arriving in my in-box for some reason.  I resent the inquiry from another email and got it back today.  Here is some more info on who Takahisa is...

About TAKAHISA, it is the person's name, but the person TAKAHISA is not making knives.

TAKAHISA is president of one Japanese knife distributor.

They put their own logo TAKAHISA on Ryusen Damascus kitchen knives and some

kinds of kitchen knives. (They don't make knives).

The picture in Middle has Ryusen Kanji engraving, the item above and the item below in picture have TAKAHISA engraving logo. There are 3 blades in the picture, 2 have same engraving logo "TAKAHISA".

It boils down to too many hands in the pot wanting to make some money.  Same exact knife made by Ryusen but OEM'd all over the place.  Also, I asked out of curiosity if he knew why Hattori damascus knives were always out of stock but Ryusen had them in stock more often.  He said he'd like to know that too.

Thanks for bringing this topic up which prompted some investigation.  Good to know this info.

Cheers

←

Thanks for the information -- very interesting.