Goodness gracious me…. Initially I was wanting to get the Tanaka blue 1 240mm gyuto, however was referred to the Hado shirogami model by Ben, and a bloke on a forum who recently selected the Hado over the blue 1 himself. The grind of this knife is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. The fit and finish of this knife is absolutely awe inspiring and the entire knife is well beyond my expectations. I simply do not understand how these can be crafted by human hands… When the knife arrived, it was a joy to unbox and revealed a true masterpiece. I decided to take the knife to my Japanese knife makers typically sell knives with the intention of the owner applying their edge. Now first things first, I was in fear of sharpening this. This knife is so incredibly thin behind the edge that I was scared of snapping the tip off. This is a knife that cannot be abused, as it will chip with absolute certainty. The steel sharpened wonderfully and I used a Chosera 400, 1000 and then a morihei hishiboshi 4000 to finish, and then a quick strop. I need not use the 400 to start, but I just did it anyway for a bit of added fun to see how it would respond. The steel takes a ridiculous edge with very little work at all on the stones, and combined with the blade geometry absolutely lasers through vegetables and meat. The blade absolutely falls through onions like I have never felt before, and I’m not even going to bother talking much about tomatoes because you know how that will have resulted. The blade is phenomenal. During my first cook, I cut some vegetables and chicken, and this has left a very nice small bit of blued patina all over the blade due to the soft iron cladding and exposed core steel (I didn’t want stainless clad). I can’t wait to continue using this knife, and monitor how the patina develops. This knife is an absolute dream to use, and I just want to buy more and more. These knives blow teruyasu Fujiwara knives out of the water, and are at the same price point. I am very gentle with my knives and have wanted a knife with a grind like this for some time. All my current knives (except for my TF) have workhorse grinds and are as can be expected, don’t quite cut the same. This knife is so thin behind the edge that it feels like I’m using a Gillette shaving razor with a high HRC for a kitchen knife. Thanks guys at chefs edge, love the knife and I look forward to potentially picking up more in future Ps one of the pics I included is of the very light blued patina after first use. It is going to develop much more as I use it Thanks -Jarrod