NAGOMI Regular Gyuto 205mm

NAGOMI Regular Gyuto 205mm

NAGOMI is a knife brand by Mitsuboshi Cutlery, a manufacturer with over 140 years of history based in Seki, Japan, one of the world’s most renowned cutlery-producing cities. The brand was born from a collaboration between Mitsuboshi’s fifth-generation president, Takahisa Watanabe, a descendant of sword smiths, and his wife, whose firsthand feedback from home cooks drove the development brief. The result is a knife built to deliver professional-grade sharpness in a format that is genuinely practical and easy to maintain for everyday use. Every knife is finished by hand by skilled craftsmen and inspected using precision instruments before leaving the workshop.

NAGOMI (和) translates to “harmony” in Japanese, and that philosophy shapes the entire range. Rather than chasing extreme hardness like many contemporary Japanese knives, NAGOMI is designed to balance sharp cutting performance with resilience and ease of care. The Regular line is the core of the range, offering clean, functional design with a pakka wood western handle, flush-finished rivets, and a refined profile suited to a wide range of kitchen tasks.

The Gyuto is the Japanese take on the western chef’s knife, designed as a true all-purpose blade capable of handling meat, fish, and vegetables with equal confidence. At 205mm it offers a longer, more sweeping profile than a Santoku, with a pointed tip and a gentle curve along the edge that makes it well suited to rocking cuts, long slicing strokes, and precision work. It is the natural choice for cooks who want a single knife that can handle the full range of prep tasks, and an excellent entry point into Japanese knives for anyone upgrading from a western chef’s knife.

Steel & Construction

The blade is ground from a single piece of 440A molybdenum stainless steel with no cladding, giving it a clean, uniform appearance from spine to edge. Rather than pursuing maximum hardness, Mitsuboshi chose 440A for its combination of corrosion resistance and toughness, then developed a proprietary heat treatment and edge-finishing process to extract sharper, more lasting performance from the steel than is typical for this alloy. The edge is finished by hand by craftsmen with over 20 years of experience, with the geometry verified under precision instruments and microscopy before sign-off. The pakka wood western handle is produced in-house with flush-polished rivets, so there is no step or ridge where the blade meets the handle.

Maintenance & Care

NAGOMI is one of the most approachable Japanese knives to maintain. The stainless steel construction means rust is not a concern under normal kitchen conditions. Hand-wash and dry after use. The steel is purposely kept at a moderate hardness so it responds well to light maintenance, including stropping on a leather strop or a few passes on a fine whetstone. For routine upkeep, occasional stropping or light sharpening on a whetstone is all that is needed to keep the edge performing well. Avoid cutting bones, frozen food, or hard-shelled ingredients to protect the edge.

Best for: Meat, fish, vegetables, slicing, everyday home and professional prep

Kitchen Samurai Ease of Use Rating: Everyday All-Rounder – The ideal first Japanese knife for cooks who want genuine performance and versatility without a steep learning curve

HRC: 58

MADE IN JAPAN