Seki Kyuba
SHIN
SG2/R2 powder steel. 31-layer Damascus. The blade chosen by professional chefs and the most serious home cooks.
For the culinary virtuoso. And the home cook who is one in private.
SHIN is the top of our range. It holds an edge longer than any other line we make. Professional chefs use it because it spends less time on the stone and more time on the board. Serious home cooks use it because once you’ve cooked with SG2/R2, you don’t really want to cook with anything else.
The cutting core is SG2 powder steel, also known as R2. The hardest, most refined steel we work with. It is wrapped in a 31-layer Damascus pattern that gives the blade its characteristic flowing surface.
This is the only line we make that includes a Kiritsuke, the Japanese chef’s knife traditionally reserved for the most experienced cooks in a restaurant. The geometry rewards precision and punishes carelessness.
Walk into the workshop
Less is harder than more.
A polished blade hides nothing. Every imperfection in the steel shows. The standard for SHIN is the strictest of any of our lines.
The materials
SG2 powder steel. 31-layer Damascus. The handle that completes every Oishya.
SG2/R2 powder steel, 31-layer Damascus
SG2 (also called R2) is a powdered metallurgy steel. The grain structure is finer than conventional steel, which means the edge can be ground sharper and stays sharp for longer. Wrapped in 31 folded layers that surface as a flowing Damascus pattern. The hardest, most refined steel in our range.
The Oishya handle: maple burl, copper, bog oak
The same handle construction across every Oishya line. A stabilised maple burl body. A 5,000-year-old bog oak ferrule, known as the kakumaki. A hand-fitted copper ring between them. An octagonal profile that sits in the hand the way a knife should.
Shop the SHIN line
The top of our range.
Specifications
What's inside every SHIN knife.
Blade
Handle & finish
A note on care
Hand wash and dry immediately. Wooden cutting boards only. Sharpen on a 1000/6000 whetstone three or four times a year. The full method lives in Knife School.
Other lines
If SHIN isn't quite right.
The everyday line. Most start here. from $346
The hammered blade. Brass and copper. from $443
The flagship. Damascus and bog oak. from $360