The Narihira Range is Produces by Fuji Cutlery. Fuji Cutlery is a sister company of Tojiro based in Sanjo City, Japan. The Narihira range are imported knives from China and fit and finish under strict regulations of Fuji Cutlery/Tojiro. This is one of the reasons this blade can be sold at such a good price.
They are made with Molybdenum Vanadium Stainless steel with super durable Black Micarta handles. They are great for chefs that need a bang for the buck that will perform well. There thinness gives them a really good cutting feel and they are very easy to sharpen and maintain.
Sujihiki
Sujihiki Knife (筋引き出刃 – pronounced: Sujihiki Bōchō) literally translated from Japanese means ‘flesh slicer’. The name insinuates that it is perfect for slicing or carving meat which it was designed for initially. This is a composite between a Yanagiba and a Western-style carving knife.
The Sujihiki’s long, double bevelled blade allows for pull cutting in one clean motion using the blade from heel to tip. The length of the blade is perfect to cut up, carve or even butcher small to medium size animals or cuts of meat. The Sujihiki is also perfect for trimming sinew and fat from meat and filleting and skinning fish.
The Sujihiki has a relatively long and narrow blade with an acute edge angle with a narrow heel height. These components reduce the effort to cut through ingredients. For this reason, it is best to use a blade that is as long as your workspace will allow. The combination of cutting technique, acute blade angle, and sharp edge result in very little cellular damage in the cut surface.
Type: Western Style
Best for: Meat, Fish
Kitchen Samurai Ease of Use Rating: Specialist – Easy to use but applies to specific food types
Care Instructions
Wash and dry the blade by hand immediately after use. Dishwashers are very bad for all knives.
Use a soft cloth to wash the blade. Avoid abrasive dish scrubbers and powders as these can damage the finish of your beautiful knife.
Do not cut through bones. You can certainly cut along/beside bones, but do not cut into bones. This can, at worst, chip the blade.
Never use this knife to cut frozen food.
Never twist or cleave the blade.
Always use a wooden or plastic cutting board. Never cut on bamboo, glass, marble, slate, a plate, china, marble, arborite or anything harder than steel.
Store knives in a way that the blades will not knock into each other.
Yoshida Hamono is a Family owned company with a rich history of knife and sword manufacturing. They manufacture knives at their workshop in Saga Prefecture, Japan.
The Yoshida Blue 2 range comes at a sharp price for a hand-forged knife. They are nice and thin behind the edge and are very well balanced in hand.
The Yoshida Blue 2 knives have a core steel of Blue 2 Carbon steel cladded in soft iron. Both the core and the iron cladding are reactive Carbon steel. This knife patinas nicely, but extra care is required when using the knife. We recommend that the blade be wiped down regularly during use and washed and dried properly after use. We recommend getting a rust eraser for maintenance.
Using a good cutting technique is very important. Make sure your cutting motion is straight up and down with no lateral movement when hitting the cutting board.
Sujihiki
Sujihiki Knife (筋引き出刃 – pronounced: Sujihiki Bōchō) literally translated from Japanese means ‘flesh slicer’. The name insinuates that it is perfect for slicing or carving meat which it was designed for initially. This is a composite between a Yanagiba and a Western-style carving knife.
The Sujihiki’s long, double bevelled blade allows for pull cutting in one clean motion using the blade from heel to tip. The length of the blade is perfect to cut up, carve or even butcher small to medium size animals or cuts of meat. The Sujihiki is also perfect for trimming sinew and fat from meat and filleting and skinning fish.
The Sujihiki has a relatively long and narrow blade with an acute edge angle with a narrow heel height. These components reduce the effort to cut through ingredients. For this reason, it is best to use a blade that is as long as your workspace will allow. The combination of cutting technique, acute blade angle, and sharp edge result in very little cellular damage in the cut surface.
Type: Western Style
Best for: Meat, Fish
Kitchen Samurai Ease of Use Rating: Specialist – Easy to use but applies to specific food types
Care Instructions
Wash and dry the blade by hand immediately after use. Dishwashers are very bad for all knives.
Use a soft cloth to wash the blade. Avoid abrasive dish scrubbers and powders as these can damage the finish of your beautiful knife.
Do not cut through bones. You can certainly cut along/beside bones, but do not cut into bones. This can, at worst, chip the blade.
Never use this knife to cut frozen food.
Never twist or cleave the blade.
Always use a wooden or plastic cutting board. Never cut on bamboo, glass, marble, slate, a plate, china, marble, arborite or anything harder than steel.
Store knives in a way that the blades will not knock into each other.
With a passionate devotion to knife-making as well as working with some of the most skilled craftsman in Japan, Sakai Kikumori has been making cutlery of incredible quality and performance since its inception in 1926.
The Kikumori Nihonko Gyuto is a mono-steel blade made from SK Carbon Steel. SK Rusts slower than other Japanese Carbon Steels such as Aogami and Shirogami and has notable toughness for a blade of HRC 63. The blade is thin and easy to sharpen and will hold edges for respectable periods of time. The handle is a Western Style Handle made from Pakka Wood with a half bolster. The Gyuto, an all round knife which can be used for various tasks, is the Japanese version of a chef’s knife. Gyuto’s generally have a flatter blade profile near the heel to aid in chopping, a rounder belly for rock chopping and a sharp, pointed tip for precision cutting.
Gyuto
Gyuto (Chef’s) Knife (牛刀包丁 – pronounced: Gyūtō Bōchō) literally translated from Japanese means ‘Cow Blade’. ‘Gyu’ means Cow and ‘to’ means blade. The name stems from its original use to slice and disjoint large cuts of beef. These days the Gyuto is comparable to the Western-styled chef knife and is viewed as an all-rounder in the kitchen.
The Gyuto is the ultimate multi-purpose kitchen knife and is perfect for chopping, slicing, mincing and dicing boneless meat, fish, vegetables, fruit and herbs. The blade profile is well suited for tap-chop or thrust-cut. The slight curve from the middle of the blade leading to its pointed edge is used to rock-chop. Its name also suggests that it is perfect for cutting meat and doing light butcher work. It can be used to pull-cut softer meats or to push-cut more muscular cuts of meat.
The Gyuto features a longer blade providing versatility for cutting larger produce while the tip of the blade allows it to be nimble enough for precision work. The edge is flat from the heel to the belly with a slightly rounded profile from the belly to the tip. The hard steel used in manufacturing makes the double-bevel edge much sharper than Western chef’s knives and retains the ultra-sharp edge for much longer.
Type: Western Style
Best for: Meat, Fish, Herbs, Vegetables
Kitchen Samurai Ease of Use Rating: All-Rounder – Easy to use and applies to most food types
Care Instructions
Wash and dry the blade by hand immediately after use. Dishwashers are very bad for all knives.
Use a soft cloth to wash the blade. Avoid abrasive dish scrubbers and powders as these can damage the finish of your beautiful knife.
Do not cut through bones. You can certainly cut along/beside bones, but do not cut into bones. This can, at worst, chip the blade.
Never use this knife to cut frozen food.
Never twist or cleave the blade.
Always use a wooden or plastic cutting board. Never cut on bamboo, glass, marble, slate, a plate, china, marble, arborite or anything harder than steel.
Store knives in a way that the blades will not knock into each other.
Masutani-San forges knives out of Echizen, Japan. They are a small sized company and produce amazing quality knives for the price. Masutani-San is known as an incredable knife sharpener and all knives comes super sharp out of the box.
The Masutani Damascus Ko-Santoku is constructed using a core steel of VG10, a cutlery grade stainless steel produced in Japan. It has a high carbon content which allows it to be heat treated to higher hardness levels thus allowing the blade to take on finer, sharper edges whilst being able to maintain that edge for prolonged periods of time
Santoku
Santoku Knife (三徳包丁 – pronounced: Santoku Bōchō) literally translated from Japanese means ‘Three Virtues’. Three Virtues refers to the three methods of using a knife namely slicing, dicing and chopping or the three types of fresh produce that is meat, fish and vegetables.
The Santoku’s multi-purpose and versatility nature leads it to be compared with a Western chef’s knife or the Gyuto. As the Three Virtues suggests it’s perfect for chopping, mincing and slicing the three main fresh produces. It excels easily through the fresh produce and creates thin slices of meat, seafood, cheese, fruits, and vegetables. The wide blade is handy for scooping food off the cutting board. The blade profile is well suited for up-and-down motion or using a tap-chop or a push-cut.
The Santoku thin blade is shorter than Western chef’s or Gyuto knives making it lighter, easier to handle and less strenuous for long periods of work. The flatter cutting edge is nearly straight from heel to tip. The Santoku is perfect for users with smaller hands and a bit more limited working space. The double-bevel, thin, sharp edge prioritises finesse instead of power.
Type: Western Style
Best for: Meat, Fish, Vegetables
Kitchen Samurai Ease of Use Rating: All-Rounder – Easy to use and applies to most food types
Care Instructions
Wash and dry the blade by hand immediately after use. Dishwashers are very bad for all knives.
Use a soft cloth to wash the blade. Avoid abrasive dish scrubbers and powders as these can damage the finish of your beautiful knife.
Do not cut through bones. You can certainly cut along/beside bones, but do not cut into bones. This can, at worst, chip the blade.
Never use this knife to cut frozen food.
Never twist or cleave the blade.
Always use a wooden or plastic cutting board. Never cut on bamboo, glass, marble, slate, a plate, china, marble, arborite or anything harder than steel.
Store knives in a way that the blades will not knock into each other.
Never transport knives unprotected.
This is what you’re looking for – 3rd C o d e: M I N I M E
Tsunehisa is a Japanese knife company that sources their knives from various OEMs in Tosa, Japan. They are well known for there outstanding quality steels and amazing sharpness out of the box.
The Tsunehisa AS Kurouchi is made from Aogami Super ( Blue Super Steel ). Its an improved version of Blue # 1. Blue Super (Aogami Super or AS) they add more carbon for hardness. The extra added Vanadium gives extra toughness and creates smaller carbides. Blue Super is often considered by blacksmiths, to be the best carbon steel for knife making in Japan.
Santoku
Santoku Knife (三徳包丁 – pronounced: Santoku Bōchō) literally translated from Japanese means ‘Three Virtues’. Three Virtues refers to the three methods of using a knife namely slicing, dicing and chopping or the three types of fresh produce that is meat, fish and vegetables.
The Santoku’s multi-purpose and versatility nature leads it to be compared with a Western chef’s knife or the Gyuto. As the Three Virtues suggests it’s perfect for chopping, mincing and slicing the three main fresh produces. It excels easily through the fresh produce and creates thin slices of meat, seafood, cheese, fruits, and vegetables. The wide blade is handy for scooping food off the cutting board. The blade profile is well suited for up-and-down motion or using a tap-chop or a push-cut.
The Santoku thin blade is shorter than Western chef’s or Gyuto knives making it lighter, easier to handle and less strenuous for long periods of work. The flatter cutting edge is nearly straight from heel to tip. The Santoku is perfect for users with smaller hands and a bit more limited working space. The double-bevel, thin, sharp edge prioritises finesse instead of power.
Type: Western Style
Best for: Meat, Fish, Vegetables
Kitchen Samurai Ease of Use Rating: All-Rounder – Easy to use and applies to most food types
Knife Specifications
Knife Shape: Santoku
Blade Length: 165mm
Steel Type: Aogami Super
Rockwell Hardness: 63:64
Care Instructions
Wash and dry the blade by hand immediately after use. Dishwashers are very bad for all knives.
Use a soft cloth to wash the blade. Avoid abrasive dish scrubbers and powders as these can damage the finish of your beautiful knife.
Do not cut through bones. You can certainly cut along/beside bones, but do not cut into bones. This can, at worst, chip the blade.
Never use this knife to cut frozen food.
Never twist or cleave the blade.
Always use a wooden or plastic cutting board. Never cut on bamboo, glass, marble, slate, a plate, china, marble, arborite or anything harder than steel.
Store knives in a way that the blades will not knock into each other.
RYUTOKU knives are manufactured by Fuji Cutlery Co., Ltd. The sister company of Tojiro applies advanced construction techniques and modern materials, combined with high quality Japanese quality control to produce great knives suitable for chefs, home cooks and professionals at a great price.
Please note: These knives are more suited for home use rather than in a professional environment.
Deba
Deba Knife (出刃包丁 – pronounced: Deba Bōchō) literally translated from Japanese means ‘pointed carving knife’. The Deba is not a carving knife though but rather a ‘carver’ of fish and mainly applied to breaking down whole fish.
The Deba Knife is traditionally used for cleaning, filleting and beheading whole fish but the sturdy blade and heavier weight allows it to break down other meats and poultries with small bones but is not suited for cutting through thick bones. Like with most Traditional Japanese knives the Deba is best designed for a single or specific purpose, fish filleting.
The Deba knife is a heavy, robust knife featuring a thick, wide blade with a pointed tip. The thick blade and heavyweight on the heel allow for heavier duty work while the middle of the blade creates clean cuts. The pointed tip is used for precision work and helps you to feel the bones of the fish when filleting. The Deba has a single-bevel edge allowing it to be extremely sharp. Traditional Japanese knives characteristically have single-bevel edges. Most single-bevel knives are right-handed so if you are left-handed make sure to request.
Type: Traditional
Best for: Fish
Kitchen Samurai Ease of Use Rating: Precise – Knowledge of the knife and limited use cases
Care Instructions
Wash and dry the blade by hand immediately after use. Dishwashers are very bad for all knives.
Use a soft cloth to wash the blade. Avoid abrasive dish scrubbers and powders as these can damage the finish of your beautiful knife.
Do not cut through bones. You can certainly cut along/beside bones, but do not cut into bones. This can, at worst, chip the blade.
Never use this knife to cut frozen food.
Never twist or cleave the blade.
Always use a wooden or plastic cutting board. Never cut on bamboo, glass, marble, slate, a plate, china, marble, arborite or anything harder than steel.
Store knives in a way that the blades will not knock into each other.
Yoshida Hamono is a Family owned company with a rich history of knife and sword manufacturing. They manufacture knives at their workshop in Saga Prefecture, Japan.
The Yoshida Blue 2 range comes at a sharp price for a hand-forged knife. They are nice and thin behind the edge and are very well balanced in hand.
The Yoshida Blue 2 knives have a core steel of Blue 2 Carbon steel cladded in soft iron. Both the core and the iron cladding are reactive Carbon steel. This knife patinas nicely, but extra care is required when using the knife. We recommend that the blade be wiped down regularly during use and washed and dried properly after use. We recommend getting a rust eraser for maintenance.
Using a good cutting technique is very important. Make sure your cutting motion is straight up and down with no lateral movement when hitting the cutting board.
Nakiri
Nakiri Knife (菜切り包丁 – pronounced: Nakiri Bōchō) literally translated from Japanese means ‘knife for cutting greens’ or ‘leaf-cutter’. Most Japanese households make use of the Nakiri and in general, it is loved by vegetarians.
The Nakiri’s broad rectangular blade allows for quick and efficient chopping, dicing and mincing of large vegetables. The height of the blade also allows cutting through harder root vegetables with a straight down chopping motion. The Nakiri may also be turned upside down to use the spine of the blade to scrape ingredients across the chopping board without damaging the blade. The blade profile with its straight, flat edge works best when using an up and down chopping motion.
The Nakiri knife has a long, thin, and rectangular-shaped blade with a straight edge, and a flat, blunt tip. The Nakiri’s shape can be mistaken for a cleaver but be warned that it is not made for heavy-duty work like cutting bones or frozen foods. The thinness of the blade also ensures that delicate vegetables can be cleanly cut without ripping the skin, and helps to achieve crisp edges on each slice.
Best for: Vegetables
Kitchen Samurai Ease of Use Rating: Specialist – Easy to use but applies to specific food types
Care Instructions
Wash and dry the blade by hand immediately after use. Dishwashers are very bad for all knives.
Use a soft cloth to wash the blade. Avoid abrasive dish scrubbers and powders as these can damage the finish of your beautiful knife.
Do not cut through bones. You can certainly cut along/beside bones, but do not cut into bones. This can, at worst, chip the blade.
Never use this knife to cut frozen food.
Never twist or cleave the blade.
Always use a wooden or plastic cutting board. Never cut on bamboo, glass, marble, slate, a plate, china, marble, arborite or anything harder than steel.
Store knives in a way that the blades will not knock into each other.
The Ginyo Silver 3 range from Hatsukokoro is Hand Forged by Yoshihiro Yauji. He is a blacksmith from Echizen, Japan. He trained and worked under Master Blacksmith Hideo Kitaoka at Takefu Knife Village. Yauji-San only recently decided to branch out and started making knives under his name. His knives are known for their great refined finishes, grinds, and fantastic fit and finish.
This range has a beautiful hammered Damascus finish. Choils and spine are nice and polished. They are definitely one of the heavier knives we stock but still very well balanced. They are paired with a beautiful Black Ebony handle.
Yoshihiro-San hand-forged this series with Silver 3 (Ginsan) Stainless steel. This steel is known to have the same characteristics as some Carbon Steel. It’s a really easy stainless steel to sharpen and has excellent edge retention and fantastic sharpness.
Santoku
Santoku Knife (三徳包丁 – pronounced: Santoku Bōchō) literally translated from Japanese means ‘Three Virtues’. Three Virtues refers to the three methods of using a knife namely slicing, dicing and chopping or the three types of fresh produce that is meat, fish and vegetables.
The Santoku’s multi-purpose and versatility nature leads it to be compared with a Western chef’s knife or the Gyuto. As the Three Virtues suggests it’s perfect for chopping, mincing and slicing the three main fresh produces. It excels easily through the fresh produce and creates thin slices of meat, seafood, cheese, fruits, and vegetables. The wide blade is handy for scooping food off the cutting board. The blade profile is well suited for up-and-down motion or using a tap-chop or a push-cut.
The Santoku thin blade is shorter than Western chef’s or Gyuto knives making it lighter, easier to handle and less strenuous for long periods of work. The flatter cutting edge is nearly straight from heel to tip. The Santoku is perfect for users with smaller hands and a bit more limited working space. The double-bevel, thin, sharp edge prioritises finesse instead of power.
Type: Western Style
Best for: Meat, Fish, Vegetables
Kitchen Samurai Ease of Use Rating: All-Rounder – Easy to use and applies to most food types
Care Instructions
Wash and dry the blade by hand immediately after use. Dishwashers are very bad for all knives.
Use a soft cloth to wash the blade. Avoid abrasive dish scrubbers and powders as these can damage the finish of your beautiful knife.
Do not cut through bones. You can certainly cut along/beside bones, but do not cut into bones. This can, at worst, chip the blade.
Never use this knife to cut frozen food.
Never twist or cleave the blade.
Always use a wooden or plastic cutting board. Never cut on bamboo, glass, marble, slate, a plate, china, marble, arborite or anything harder than steel.
Store knives in a way that the blades will not knock into each other.
With a passionate devotion to knife-making as well as working with some of the most skilled craftsman in Japan, Sakai Kikumori has been making cutlery of incredible quality and performance since its inception in 1926.
The Kikumori Nihonko Yo Deba is a mono-steel blade made from SK Carbon Steel. SK Rusts slower than other Japanese Carbon Steels such as Aogami and Shirogami and has notable toughness for a blade of HRC 63. The blade on this deba is thick yet easy to sharpen and will hold edges for respectable periods of time. The handle is a Western Style Handle made from Pakka Wood with a half bolster. Similar to the Single beveled Japanese Deba, the Yo Deba is its western counterpart with a double beveled blade. These knives are incredibly thick offering durability and therefore allowing these knives to be used for cutting meats with minor bones and even semi-frozen food without chipping.
Deba
Deba Knife (出刃包丁 – pronounced: Deba Bōchō) literally translated from Japanese means ‘pointed carving knife’. The Deba is not a carving knife though but rather a ‘carver’ of fish and mainly applied to breaking down whole fish.
The Deba Knife is traditionally used for cleaning, filleting and beheading whole fish but the sturdy blade and heavier weight allows it to break down other meats and poultries with small bones but is not suited for cutting through thick bones. Like with most Traditional Japanese knives the Deba is best designed for a single or specific purpose, fish filleting.
The Deba knife is a heavy, robust knife featuring a thick, wide blade with a pointed tip. The thick blade and heavyweight on the heel allow for heavier duty work while the middle of the blade creates clean cuts. The pointed tip is used for precision work and helps you to feel the bones of the fish when filleting. The Deba has a single-bevel edge allowing it to be extremely sharp. Traditional Japanese knives characteristically have single-bevel edges. Most single-bevel knives are right-handed so if you are left-handed make sure to request.
Type: Traditional
Best for: Fish
Kitchen Samurai Ease of Use Rating: Precise – Knowledge of the knife and limited use cases
Care Instructions
Wash and dry the blade by hand immediately after use. Dishwashers are very bad for all knives.
Use a soft cloth to wash the blade. Avoid abrasive dish scrubbers and powders as these can damage the finish of your beautiful knife.
Do not cut through bones. You can certainly cut along/beside bones, but do not cut into bones. This can, at worst, chip the blade.
Never use this knife to cut frozen food.
Never twist or cleave the blade.
Always use a wooden or plastic cutting board. Never cut on bamboo, glass, marble, slate, a plate, china, marble, arborite or anything harder than steel.
Store knives in a way that the blades will not knock into each other.
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