Yu Kurosaki (黒崎 優), a talented young craftsman in his forties, has established himself as one of Japan's top knife makers, garnering recognition and top prizes for his hand-forged blades, particularly those with the Tsuchime and Suminagashi finishes. When Yu was a teenager, he first started creating knives. At the age of 23, he began his 12-year apprenticeship with teacher Hiroshi Kato. Recognizing his abilities, Kato began displaying his creations at numerous international knife shows and taking on the most difficult tasks that were given to him. Kurosaki established his own workshop in 2014. He received honors and acclaim both in Japan and abroad for his superior knife-making abilities and creative use of finishing techniques. The tsuchime finish is a technique whereby designs are hand-hammered onto the soft cladding (jiagne) to improve the blade's aesthetic appeal. This laborious procedure, which is frequently seen in Japanese art and craft, calls for a high level of expertise and focus in order to produce a seemingly random but consistent pattern. On Japanese knives, Tsuchime patterns are typically those tiny spherical dents that mimic the moon's surface. On the other hand, Yu Kurosaki's Tsuchime finale is incredible. His distinctive Tsuchime designs, as seen in the Shizuku and Fujin series, are not only exquisitely beautiful but also highly practical in terms of reducing the likelihood that food will stick on blades.
