This gorgeous kitchen knife makes you feel like a skilled samurai in the kitchen

It’s easy to take kitchen knives for granted until what should have been a swift cutting motion ends up in a mess of squished juices, uneven slices, and aching wrists. After all, you can easily buy a new knife, which is both wasteful and inefficient. On the flip side, most kitchen knives are designed simply for utility, and pretty ones that were made for show usually stop at that. Beautiful but useful kitchen knives are hard to come by, even more so if they’re long-lasting and durable. Fortunately, these seemingly mythical treasures do exist, like this eye-catching blade crafted by artisans for the kitchen, letting you cut, slice, and dice with precision and ease, not unlike the famed Japanese swordsmen of old.

Designer: douzo

Click Here to Buy Now: $185 $229 ($44 off). Hurry, for a limited time only!

Japanese Craftsmanship – Kurenai born in the heart of Seki City, the global hub of cutlery craftsmanship. Each Kurenai knife is meticulously handcrafted in Japan by skilled artisans.

Effortless Slicing – Kurenai glides through ingredients with just its own weight – no force needed.

Crafted to Last a Lifetime – Layered with different types of steel, Kurenai boasts exceptional durability.

Kitchen knives are a dime a dozen these days and most of them look too common and uninspiring. That’s especially true for mass-produced items that don’t even make the cut, pardon the pun, in being useful for a long period of time. It takes not just great skill but also great patience and attention to detail to produce a precision tool that is also a work of art, and who better to know how to do exactly that than the craftsmen in Japan who have a deep history with making swords for the legendary samurai.

Crafted with Damascus Steel – The blade boasts the mesmerizing pattern of a burning flame.

Unparalleled Comfort – The octagonal-shaped handle ensures a perfect fit.

Kurenai is the product of such storied tradition, craftsmanship built over the years, and modern aesthetics. Immediately at first glance, the knife sets itself apart from all other kitchen knives with the mesmerizing flame pattern running along its sharpened edge, a nod both to its flame-forged origin as well as the fiery passion that created it. And unlike any other knife in your culinary arsenal, Kurenai’s distinctive octagonal-shaped wooden handle fits in hand, regardless of the size.

This knife, enchanting as it may be, isn’t just for show. With a Damascus steel blade, Kurenai simply glides across meat, vegetables, and other ingredients, preserving their flavor and enhancing their texture. Carefully sharpening this blade according to the prescribed method reveals Kurenai’s impressive durability, letting you enjoy that smooth experience for years. This pure Japanese-made knife brings the elegance and the sharpness that professionals enjoy to anyone’s kitchen, turning almost anyone into a cutting and slicing pro.

Why suffer through dull blade after dull blade when you can have a single knife that will last you a lifetime. Made with 800 years of history and experience behind it, these distinctive flame-inspired blades bring craftsmanship and culinary passion together to deliver not just a tool but a work of art as well. Designed and made in the land of the samurai, the Kurenai kitchen knife lets you cut through your cooking tasks with the sharpness and elegance of a Japanese sword.

Click Here to Buy Now: $185 $229 ($44 off). Hurry, for a limited time only!

The post This gorgeous kitchen knife makes you feel like a skilled samurai in the kitchen first appeared on Yanko Design.

Furniture inspired by the Samurai Warrior armor comes with a similar tough corset wrapped around it

What do Samurai warriors and tables have in common? Not quite a lot, I’d imagine… but for Mingdu Design, the two shared a potential visual overlap, resulting in the Paper Warrior series of side tables and coffee tables.

Samurais pioneered a new type of armor, that looked deceptively like paper, but was, on the contrary, rather tough and resilient. This ‘paper armor’ was wrapped around their torso, creating a tough shield of sorts that could deflect attacks while being both flexible as well as lightweight for easier movement and increased agility. It’s one of the many reasons which set the samurais in a class of their own, and the Paper Warrior series pays homage to their uniquely functional bit of fashion!

Designer: Mingdu Design

The tables, styled in longer pill-shaped variants as well as tall round side-tables, come with a distinct red fabric wrapped around their body. Rather than using the exact same kind of paper as the Samurais (which was made traditionally by specialized Japanese artisans), Mingdu Design opted for a similar but more readily available Tyvek paper by DuPont. Tyvek provides the right balance of toughness while shining just like the paper armor on a samurai would. It’s wrapped around the table the way an armor would be, and is cinched around the waist too!

The table’s underlying structure is made from wrought iron that’s been welded together. The iron has a distinct criss-cross pattern running around the middle, which the Tyvek clad conveniently exposes. This is a nod to the lace design found on the samurai armors!

“This series incorporates origami and weaving techniques and clothing design techniques for creation”, say designers Liang Chen and Yang Xueying of Mingdu Design. “We hope that in this semi-industrial and semi-handmade process, we can blur the boundaries between design and art, and put on exclusive armor for our samurai.”

The post Furniture inspired by the Samurai Warrior armor comes with a similar tough corset wrapped around it first appeared on Yanko Design.

This custom modified 1977 Honda Gold Wing flaunts its Samurai inspiration

Perhaps some of the best motorbike customizers, and my personal favorites, Death Machines of London are back with an absolute stunner… a completely customized 1977 Honda Gold Wing heavily inspired by samurai warriors and their gear. Nicknamed the ‘Kenzo’, after Kenzo Tada, who in 1930 became the first Asian rider ever to compete at the Isle of Man TT, the custom motorcycle “is the result of traditional craft combined with state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques, and plenty of headaches. And cuts. And burns. And serious reconsiderations of life choices”, say the folks at DMOL. I’d probably guess the end result, as remarkable as it is, was worth all that fuss.

Kenzo’s remarkable body celebrates overlapping segments found in ancient samurai armor. The original design was made in CAD, and was finally prototyped after hours of working with hand-paneled aluminum, then ditching it for composites, created with the high-precision 3D prints and CNC parts. Under the final segment rests an insert grille made through 3D printing. The Kenzo’s absolutely exquisite lighting resorted to more futuristic means to represent the razor-edge of samurai weaponry. Working with Luminit of California, DMOL incorporated the world’s most advanced holographic diffusion film into the units. Light from the underlying LED’s is precisely disbursed at 80 degrees across the surface of the film, removing hot spots and creating a seamless bar of light that’s absolutely menacing to look at. DMOL’s inspiration finds its home in the handlebars too, with grips inspired by the traditional Tsukamaki sword-wrapping technique, and a seat that features a patterned embossed leather clad that resembles the leather that the samurais wore under their metal suits. Perhaps my favorite detail is best left for the end… the Kenzo’s precious speedometer. The ornate ivory-esque speedometer features a hand-crafted dynamic diorama of sorts, complete with a dragon, cast from an 18th-century Japanese jewel box. Sitting atop it is the speed-hand, cast in the same material. Turn the bike on and the speedometer livens up magically with a rim-light, bringing all the intricate details of the dial to life. I honestly don’t know how I’d be able to tear my eyes away from its sheer beauty to focus on the road,but truth be told, I could say that about practically every design detail on the Kenzo. Remarkable job, DMOL. You’ve completely wowed me yet again!

Designer: Death Machines of London

Cut Like a Ninja with Samurai Sword Scissors


Samurai Sword Scissors, try saying that three times fast. These are definitely some of the coolest looking scissors we’ve seen, because let’s face it- most scissors just look like scissors. But the Nihonto Hasami Japanese Sword Scissors are different, it looks like a katana sword. Except miniature. And slightly less deadly. But still dangerous, especially if you’re running with them. Is it weird that we’re not supposed to run with scissors but running with a sword is perfectly acceptable? What’s up with that?

These scissors come in three color choices- black, purple, or red. Just like real katana swords, they come with a sheath (scabbard if you want to get technical and I know you do). So I guess you actually can run with them, sorry Mom and every elementary school teacher ever. They’re made in Japan, no surprise, of cutlery grade stainless steel. Make it your weapon of choice for your next art project.

Cut Like a Ninja with Samurai Sword Scissors
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A bike that demonstrates how Japanese culture can influence automotive design

Artem and Vladimir believe Japan’s design ethos lies heavily on their culture and history, pulling inspiration from minimalism, origami, and traditions like the samurai spirit, but a heavy European influence has resulted in Japan’s large automobile industry following cues that aren’t originally Japanese. Setting out to design a motorbike that is indicative of Japan’s culture, spirit, and aesthetic, Artem and Vladimir designed the Motorbike for Great Japan.

The motorbike’s design makes use of planar surfaces, reminiscent of samurai uniforms, and a body with an origami-inspired form. It even goes the distance to integrate a Samurai-sword-style woven handle for the handlebar grips! The bike comes with a styled carbon-fiber body, which not only makes the bike lighter and faster, but allows it to achieve its origami-style design rather seamlessly. The bike even sports dual-suspension on the front and the back, along with an adjustable seat for comfort, and what looks like a push-to-accelerate footrest. That’s innovative, even by Japanese standards!

Designers: Artem Smirnov & Vladimir Panchenko

Tamashii Nations Meisho Manga Realization Kabukimono Deadpool Figure: Samuraipool

I’m a Deadpool fan and have often thought I’d like to see him turn up in other films like The Last Samurai or shows like The Walking Dead. I mean, Deadpool would be great at fighting feudal warlords and slicing the heads off zombies with those swords. If you ever though Deadpool would make a good samurai, you can live that dream with this action figure.

Designed by Takayuki Takeya, the Tamashii Nations Meisho Manga Realization Kabukimono Deadpool action figure is here to kick some serious ass. It has a super long name, but the action figure is very cool. The 8″ tall Deadpool has the swords on his back we know and love, as well as a pair of muskets on his sides.

You get four arms, two katanas, two guns, two weapon holsters, and three interchangeable eye parts, including two eyes that look like hearts. I don’t think Deadpool would like feudal Japan; they didn’t have chimichangas. Maybe he could change to spring rolls. You can grab the figure over on Amazon for just about $60.