Sakai Kikumori OHA Nashiji 2 Piece Knife Set

Slice a chicken breast, dice an onion and trim the ends off a handful of strawberries without asking one blade to do it all. The Sakai Kikumori OHA Nashiji 2 Piece Knife Set gives you a light, comfortable Santoku for the bulk of your prep and a nimble Petty for the jobs where a smaller blade gives you better control.

What’s Included

• OHA Nashiji Santoku 180mm: A versatile Japanese kitchen knife for vegetables, boneless meat and fish. At 180mm, it gives you a little more reach than a shorter Santoku for slicing larger ingredients. The relatively flat heel and midsection work well for chopping and push cuts, while the curve towards the tip lets you rock gently through herbs.
• OHA Nashiji Petty 150mm: A compact utility knife with enough length to slice a lime or a shallot on the board and a fine tip for trimming sinew or removing blemishes from fruit. It’s the knife to reach for when the work gets fiddly.

Steel and Construction

Both blades feature an AUS10 stainless steel core with San Mai construction. San Mai means “three layers”: a harder core forms the cutting edge, with a softer layer of steel on either side. This lets the cutting edge benefit from the hardness of AUS10 while the outer layers support the core.

AUS10 is a Japanese stainless blade steel from Aichi Steel. Its carbon content gives it the potential to harden, chromium contributes to corrosion resistance, and small additions of molybdenum and vanadium help the steel achieve hardness and resist wear. Heat treatment brings those properties into balance: hardening helps the edge resist deformation, and tempering reduces brittleness. Combined with a well-ground blade, that balance is part of what makes a good Japanese kitchen knife a pleasure to use. You can make clean, controlled cuts with less pressure, and the edge is built to hold up through regular prep.

Finish and Handle

The polished Nashiji finish catches the light across the upper blade’s fine, uneven texture. Nashiji means “pear skin”, and the name makes sense when you see the speckled surface alongside the smoother bevel. Both knives have a one-piece olive wood handle, with no separate ferrule to interrupt the grain. The warm tones tie the set together, while the natural grain gives each handle its own look.

Maintenance and Care

• Hand wash and dry both knives after use. Avoid soaking them or putting them in the dishwasher. Use a wooden or suitable plastic chopping board, keep the blades away from bones and frozen food, and maintain the edges with a whetstone as needed.

Best for: Home cooks and chefs who want a practical two-knife set for everyday chopping, slicing and detailed prep.

Kitchen Samurai Ease of Use Rating: Everyday All Rounder.

HRC:58-59

Made in Japan.

Free shipping on orders over R1,500.