This has been on of my earliest Shigefusa comparisions, before I even decided to build a website for my Shigefusa collection. Since writing the original review in March 2016, the kasumi 270mm yanagiba has found a new home. Starting off this comparision with agroup photo, which doubles as the introduction photo of this website. I'd be interested to hear your opinion on the kitaeji version; the weight and width is considerable smaller compared to the kasumi and kitaeji NOS version. This almost makes me believe this is actually a fugubiki instead of a yanagiba.




Coils galore: from left to right: Kasumi Kitaeji, Kitaeji NOS




The Kasumi version in full glory.




The Kitaeji version in full glory.




The Kitaeji NOS version in full glory.




Close-up of the Kasumi kanji.




Close-up of the Kitaeji kanji.




Close-up of the Kitaeji NOS kanji. Interesting to note is the variation in kanji lengths: from top to bottom measured: Kasumi: 34mm; Kitaeji: 39mm; Kitaeji NOS: 45mm.




A closer look at the Kasumi kanji.




A closer look at the Kitaeji kanji.




A closer look at the Kitaeji NOS; yes, those are dust specs on the knife.




Could not help myself, testin the limits of my Nikon 110mm Marco lens. Even the individual hammer marks creating the engravings are clearly visible, as well as the bulging of the steel around the indentations. Interestingly, the Kanji on the NOS (image below) appears a lot rougher compared to the non-NOS Kitaeji.




Detail of Kitaeji NOS kanji.




I do recall one KKF thread on Shigs patterns, stating that newer Kitaeji Shigs have patterns grouped in three lines at a time, whereas theNOS stock does not, or at least a lesser extend. This is pretty much confirmed and indeed clearly visible (see Kitaeji on left, Kitaeji NOS on the right).However, the Kitaeji NOS knife does have a similar pattern, yet tighter grouped. A clear, visual difference between the kitaeji knives is that the Kiaeji NOS knife appears to have “straighter” lines compared to a “wavy” pattern on the Kitaeji version. The other difference is the number of lines, I counted 22 on the NOS version and 18 on the normal version.



If you have any suggestions for future comparisions, feel free to drop me an email.