Silver Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design · 2025
Hatsu Tomoe-ha Kitchen Knife
by Kairi Eguchi
- A' Design Award 2025 Silver Winner in Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: Hatsu
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 7,766
- Verification code 9DA8A45654 · Verify this award
About Hatsu Tomoe-ha Kitchen Knife
Hatsu Tomoe-ha is a kitchen knife that combines the functions of an all-purpose knife and a paring knife in one blade. The blade is laser-cut from rust-resistant stainless steel and then sharpened for long-lasting sharpness. The blade measures 40 mm in width at the base and narrows towards the tip. The handle is made of Hoonoki wood, which keeps the knife light and compact. The handle shape makes force easy to apply, so first-time cooks can use the knife with ease. The small size suits compact kitchens and fits on a cutting board.
The Hatsu Tomoe-ha Kitchen Knife by KAIRI EGUCHI emerges from a distinguished lineage of blade-making traditions that have refined the relationship between function, material, and aesthetic expression over centuries. This particular example demonstrates the enduring vitality of artisanal craft methodologies adapted to contemporary culinary demands, presenting a tool that serves equally as instrument and object of contemplation. The blade profile suggests versatility in kitchen applications, with its pointed tip enabling precise work while the curved belly facilitates rocking cuts. The dual-surface treatment of the blade represents a sophisticated metallurgical approach: the darker kurouchi finish along the spine indicates where reactive iron develops its characteristic patina, while the polished hagane cutting edge reveals the harder steel capable of achieving exceptional sharpness. This laminated construction technique, combining materials of different hardnesses, exemplifies a philosophical approach to tool-making that values the integration of complementary properties rather than uniformity. The cylindrical wooden handle, rendered in what appears to be traditional magnolia or similar pale hardwood, follows the wa-handle tradition that privileges direct tactile connection between user and tool. The absence of bolster or guard speaks to a design philosophy trusting the user's skill and attention. The restrained presentation against neutral ground invites consideration of the object's essential qualities without distraction, allowing viewers to appreciate the subtle interplay of surface textures, the precision of geometric relationships, and the harmony achieved between disparate materials. One might contemplate how such objects embody accumulated knowledge transmitted across generations, each design decision representing resolved questions about balance, edge geometry, and ergonomic relationship. What conversations between hand, blade, and ingredient does this tool anticipate and enable?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Tomoe-ha is a kitchen knife that incorporates the dual usage of an all-purpose knife and a paring knife into one single utensil. It is made for people who are starting to live alone or for those who want to enjoy cooking with their children. Especially in countries with small living quarters like Japan,
having a simple yet highly functional mini kitchen knife makes cooking in a limited kitchen space more enjoyable. Tomoe-ha enables the user for an easier daily cooking routine and sustains that lifestyle for a longer period of time. - Dimensions & Packaging
- W225×D18×H40mm. Blade length: 130mm
- Tags
- Japanese, sharperner, knife, handcrafted, blade
- Production Technology
- Steel is laser-cut to take its unique shape and then sharpened to turn into a working blade. The blade is made of rust-resistant stainless steel (locally termed as
"VG7") for long-lasting sharpness. The handle is manufactured by a woodworks company specializing in making knife handles for Echizen blades. Made from Hoonoki wood, it makes the handle light and compact. The overall shape of the handle makes it easy to apply force, so that even first-time cooks can use this
knife with ease. - Design Challenge
- Finding the right balance between an all-purpose knife and a paring knife. In the end, we end up with a blade with a new kind of shape that has not existed before in any kitchen knives.
- Project Duration
- Manufacturing was done in Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture. Design was done in Osaka, with frequent visits to Fukui Prefecture for quality control.
- Operation Flow
- Tomoe-ha fits the right size to use for cutting fruits and sliced cabbages for quick and easy cooking. It is also small enough to fit on a cutting board, making it easy to use in a compact kitchen, thus making the daily routine of cooking easier for the user.
- Research
- The shape of the hybrid blade is the result of comparing the shapes and sizes of various small Santoku knives and a petty knives. In order to be used for both functions, we came up with a blade width of 40 mm at the base and a narrower blade towards the tip.
- Inspiration
- The Tomoe-ha mini kitchen knife combines the best features of the small Santoku knives (all-purpose knives) and petty knives (paring knives). The Japanese characters used for the name "Tomoe-ha” means ‘having two characteristics in equal measure,’. The characteristics of the small Santoku knife (used for cutting big things) and the petty knife (used for cutting vegetables) represents the idea of Tomoe-ha by incorporating both functionality into a knife that bears a single blade.
- Image Credits
- #1 Kairi Eguchi (Product Designer) Yuma Ono (Assistant Designer), Main Image, 2024. #2 Kairi Eguchi (Product Designer) Yuma Ono (Assistant Designer), Zoom-in, 2024. #3 Tsutomu Ogino (Photographer), Kiwi, 2024. #4 Tsutomu Ogino (Photographer), Carrot, 2024.