Maker Spotlight: Kurosaki Brothers Collection

Two Brothers, One Craft

Yu and Makoto Kurosaki are brothers from Fukui Prefecture, and between them they cover two of the most important parts of making a great knife: forging the blade, and finishing it.

Both trained under Hiroshi Kato in Takefu, a region with a knife-making tradition going back over 700 years. Takefu Knife Village is where a lot of Japan's best blades come from, and graduating from it as an independent craftsman means something.

Yu Kurosaki - The Blacksmith

Yu Kurosaki went on to set up his own forge, Kurosaki Uchihamono, in Echizen City after 12 years of training. In 2019 he was certified by the Japanese government as a Master of Traditional Crafts, making him the youngest blacksmith ever to receive that designation.

His knives are immediately recognisable. The hand-hammered tsuchime finish is his signature, and it is not just for looks. The texture reduces drag and stops food sticking to the side of the blade. He works mostly in R2/SG2, a powdered stainless steel that holds an edge exceptionally well. His SENKO-EI line, with the octagonal wa handle and hammered blade, has become one of the most sought-after series in Japanese cutlery right now.

Makoto Kurosaki - The Sharpener

Makoto Kurosaki took a different path. Rather than forging, he specialised in sharpening and finishing. He works out of Kato-san's workshop and sources blades from different blacksmiths in the area, including Kato-san, Ikeda-san and his brother Yu, then shapes, bevels and sharpens them himself.

Sharpening tends to get overlooked, but it is actually where a lot of the performance of a knife comes from. The blacksmith determines the potential of the steel. The sharpener is the one who makes it work as a knife. Makoto is very good at it.

His lines include the Sakura Santoku, made from SG2 with stainless cladding, and the VG7 Ryusei Santoku, which features a stainless Damascus cladding over a VG7 core hardened past 61.5 HRC. Both are thin, light knives well suited to prep work and anyone who wants something that feels nimble in the hand.

Which One Is Right for You?

Choose Yu if you want a statement knife with serious performance. The tsuchime finish, the wa handle, the visual impact - these knives look like they mean business because they do. Great for a home cook or professional chef who wants one exceptional knife they will use every day.

Choose Makoto if you want something lighter and more detail-oriented. His knives are thinner, more nimble, and built around the idea that sharpening is where performance is really made. A good choice for prep-heavy work or anyone who appreciates restraint in a blade.

Browse the full Kurosaki Brothers collection at Chef & a Knife.