Tojiro Santoku Zen 165mm (6.5″)

TOJIRO Santoku Zen 165mm is a great choice if you’re looking for a handy, multi-purpose, low-maintenance Japanese knife that is very affordable. Stainless steel, traditional Japanese magnolia wood handle, minimalist blade finish, … enjoy the classic Japanese aesthetic – on a budget!

Definition of Zen: 1. a Japanese sect of Mahayana Buddhism that aims at enlightenment by direct intuition through meditation⁠ 2. a state of calm attentiveness in which one’s actions are guided by intuition rather than by conscious effort⁠ 3. the name of a series of knives by the Japanese smithy TOJIRO, identifiable by traditional magnolia wood handles and sleek polished blades.⁠

BLADE SHAPE:
Santoku is a versatile kitchen knife that will shine through all kinds of chopping and cutting on the kitchen board. Meat lovers will only miss a little bit of length with larger pieces of meat. Did you know that the word santoku means “knife of three virtues” in Japanese? The word san is number three, meaning that it can be used to prepare vegetables, fish and meat.

STEEL:
VG-10 (V for Vanadium, G for “gold” as in “gold standard”) is made by Takefu Special Steel Company, a relatively small steel company that around 60 years ago managed to find just the right balance of different elements to create the most popular Japanese knife making steel today. VG-10 steel is stainless steel with relatively high Carbon (C) content (1%), 15% Chromium (Cr), 1% Molybdenum (Mo), 0.3% Vanadium (V) and 1.5% Cobalt (Co). The combination of Cr, Mo, and V forms a lot of hard carbides, making the steel abrasion resistant which translates to long-lasting, smooth sharpness. Heat treated to the hardness of 60-61 HRC.

LAMINATION:
The excellent VG-10 steel with the hardness of 61 HRC is clad into 2 layers of softer stainless steel. The outer two layers of softer stainless steel form a “shinogi” line along the entire edge of the blade. Shinogi line represents the border between the harder, inner steel and the outer two layers of softer steel.

GEOMETRY:
It has a double bevel (50/50 symmetrical) blade.

BLADE FINISH:
The blade features a clean, highly polished (also called migaki) blade.

HANDLE:
The blade extends into a traditional Japanese round Wa handle made of the common wood for Japanese handles – magnolia wood – with a black plastic ferrule. The handle is suitable for left and right-handed users.

ABOUT THE BLACKSMITH:
TOJIRO is one of the top 5 largest Japanese kitchen knife manufacturers. They are renowned across Japan and internationally for their top-quality knives for a reasonable price. TOJIRO’s focus on advanced technologies, together with their insatiable dedication for constant improvements of their knives and materials, makes TOJIRO’s knives a must-have in any kitchen. TOJIRO’s main focus? Sharpness! A big bonus is their great team which we are always very eager to meet and talk to! 😊