g17slOUnited States
Ships from United States
US$198
Buy NowIn Japanese, santoku means 'three virtues': meat, fish, and vegetables. This is a knife built on the premise that a home kitchen shouldn't need a drawer full of specialists. The santoku arrived in postwar Japan as households began cooking Western food, and it has been the standard knife on the Japanese counter ever since.
Shorter than a gyuto, flatter along the edge, with a blunted sheepsfoot tip that keeps the whole blade on the board. This is the daily go-to. The core is Blue Paper Steel No. 2 (aka Aogami 2), forged at the Yasugi works in Shimane Prefecture, named for the blue paper the mill uses to label its billets.
Chromium and tungsten give it the wear resistance pure carbon steel lacks, and our forge heat-treats it to 61–63 HRC. Its double bevel takes a keen edge, holds it through real work, and returns on a water stone with little effort. Our forge laminates that core between two layers of stainless in the san-mai method, exposing the carbon steel where it means business.
Everything happens under one roof in Sanjo City, where our shop has been based since 1948. Each blade carries our katakana X-mark and ships with a canvas blade guard. Dry it after use, oil it now and then, and the walnut handle will only darken and patina with age.
Description from g17slO.
Shops in United States.
