Kamo Hamono VG10 Tsuchime Damascus Juhyo Santoku Knife Purple Handle

The Juhyo series takes its name from the phenomenon of hoarfrost on trees — the crystalline formations that appear when supercooled fog freezes on contact with branches and surfaces. On this santoku, that reference lives in the tsuchime hammered finish across the Damascus cladding: an irregular, faceted surface that shifts with the light rather than reflecting it evenly. The core steel is VG10, chosen for its edge retention and resistance to corrosion, layered within a Damascus body and ground to a double-bevel edge. Kamo Hamono has forged knives at Takefu Knife Village in Echizen City since the cooperative's founding, working within a cutlery tradition that the region has held for over 700 years. The handle on this version is stabilized figured maple, dyed purple, with a pale maple bolster — the color saturating deep into the wood grain without obscuring it. Each knife in the Juhyo series differs in handle material and finish. The blade is the constant.