Japanese Style Knife and Sheath

This is a Japanese style chef knife I made as a Christmas gift. The blade is a 67-layer Japanese steal blade made by Zhen that I purchased. I created the handle out of spalted tamarind. The knife had only a packaging sheath with it, so I researched traditional Japanese sheaths and created one in the style out of a unique piece of laurel oak I had in my shop. Handle and sheath are finished to be food safe. The blade I sharpened to 17 degrees (traditional for Asian blades) and is razor sharp!

Oh…. and the lettering says “friendship” in Japanese (if my research is correct). It was done using a wood burner. Not too bad for free-handing the design and being an amateur at wood burning!