When the blade tip is inserted, the meat is cut smoothly without feeling any resistance from the food, and a smooth, beautiful cross-section appears.

The knife's sharpness was unlike anything he had ever tasted before, and more than half of the judges who used it at a world-class international culinary competition took it home with them.

Such episodes spread quickly, and one company is attracting attention from all over the world. Let us introduce the story of the birth of that steak knife.

Headquartered in Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture, the birthplace of Echizen hammered blades, Ryusen Cutlery is a manufacturer of kitchen knives, knives, and cutlery. The company was founded in 1953 by Hitoshi Masutani, the founder, who is a polisher, aiming for consistent manufacturing. During the reign of Hiroshi Masutani, the second generation, Echizen hammered blades became the first domestic cutlery production center to be designated as a "traditional craft," contributing greatly to expanding recognition of Echizen hammered blades.

And now the president is Koji Masutani, the third generation. The steak knife was invented by him, but it has not always been smooth sailing to this point.

"When I became president, the Lehman Brothers collapse had left us unable to sell our products, and we felt that we had reached our limits in domestic sales. That's why we decided to exhibit at the Ambiente exhibition in Germany in 2010. We started with a booth in a corner of the venue, but we were serving about 100 buyers a day."

With no overseas contacts at all, Mr. Masutani actively participated in trade shows. Although the number of people who understood the quality of Echizen hammered blades gradually increased, it rarely led to concrete transactions. Just as he was feeling the dilemma that his efforts were not accompanied by results, he met a chef who would change the future of Ryusen Knives.

That is Mr. Noriyuki Hamada, Chef de Cuisine at Hoshinoya Tokyo. He asked Mr. Masutani to use "the sharpest steak knife" in the main dining room of the newly opened Hoshino Resort Karuizawa Hotel Breston Court, where he was the executive chef at the time.

With the technology of Ryusen cutlery, sharpness is a given.

However, Chef Hamada received an NG for the finished knife sample. It was an unexpected response: "It cuts meat well, but it is so sharp that it also damages your mouth.

One of Masutani's classmates from elementary and junior high school is Hiroaki Watanabe, a product designer in Tokyo.

By chance, we met again after 35 years and casually asked him about the steak knife, and he agreed to support its production.

Mr. Watanabe designed an asymmetrical shape that is easy to use for both right- and left-handed people. The knife tip is curved, not pointed, to provide safety from damaging the plate or the inside of the mouth.

Mr. Masutani further examined the materials again and devised a method of layering layers of soft and hard steel. The different materials are structured like a file, and a piece that does not cut just by hitting the foodstuff but cuts smoothly with a light pull is born.

Mr. Masutani recalls those days.

"Until now, blades have followed traditional shapes, but we realized that designs need to change with the times. It was a great realization for us in the future of manufacturing to use design to solve usability issues that cannot be covered by materials alone."

The best steak knife that combines sharpness and safety, which took about two years to complete. Although he did not meet his initial goal of opening a restaurant, the steak knife from Ryusen Knives was selected as the exclusive knife for the Japanese team at the "Bocuse d'Or International Culinary Competition," in which Chef Hamada will represent Japan.

The competition resulted in third place, the highest ever for a Japanese. Furthermore, about half of the judges from 24 countries who used Ryusen Knives' steak knives were so impressed with the sharpness of the knives that they took them home, an unprecedented event.

After this day, the name Ryusen cutlery became known all over the world and is now used in restaurants in Japan and all over the world. Since there is a limit of 150 steak knives that can be made in a month, orders could wait up to four years.

"Of course, we want to improve production efficiency. But Echizen hammered blades can only be made by a swordsmith repeating the process of stretching and folding a block of steel by hand. We will continue to work on manufacturing products that we can deliver with confidence to the world without neglecting this point."

Text / Ai Ishihara