Shikisai Knives

Master Masui chose and established the brand name “SHIKI” 四季 (“Four Seasons”) because his goal was to make a collection of hand-made knives that were just as beautiful as the four seasons of Japan. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter; each season is beautiful and has its own distinct natural wonders, sights, sounds, smells, tastes, traditions and atmosphere.

Here, we would like to introduce you to the SHIKISAI (色彩) series of knives, which expresses the core concept behind Master Masui’s “Shiki” brand: the beauty of the four seasons of Japan.

Each knife has a mirror-polished VG-10 Damascus stainless steel blade (HRc. 60-61) and a hand-contoured black pakkawood handle, which has fine stripes that are red, green, or golden-brown in color.

Master Masui discovered that this unusual type of pakkawood (A resin-impregnated wood laminate that is very stable and water-resistant) develops very striking colored stripes during the hand contouring process that nicely compliment the patterned Damascus blade. He confidently decided that, in addition to using this handle material for his “SHIKI Damascus Limited Edition Series” knives, he would also use it for his regular “SHIKI VG-10 Series” knives.