Yoshihiro VG-10 Damascus Santoku Multipurpose Japanese Chef Knife 7" (Western Style Mahogany Handle)

I've been looking for a really great kitchen knife and I read about this on a list of chefs talking about their favorite knives. I kept seeing this knife and I finally pulled the trigger. So far it's amazing.Looks: it looks really expensive. Far more than the 100ish dollars it cost. The blade is gorgeous and the handle is really nice as well. The wood is nice and smooth, but looks a ton better after putting some oil on it and caring for it.Sharpness: out of the box I'd say it was an 8/10 on the sharpness scale. For reference I'd put something like a boxed Henckles set at 6/10. It still cuts really well though. 99% of people will think it's the sharpest knife they've owned, unless they're coming from a pro knife. With a little honing though this knife gets insanely sharp, insanely fast. Like cut the tip of your finger off without noticing sharp. The good news is that it also appears to hold an edge well for such a thing knife.Durability: so far, I'm really impressed with the durability. You can cut all of your food and wash it, dry it and repeat without any need to straighten the blade. As long as you keep it clean and tube it up once in a while, this knife will be solid for a long time.Overall: I've quickly replaced my Henckles santoku for this knife and the only thing I wonder is why it took so long. This knife is gorgeous, sharp and sized in such a way that it can do nearly anything. If you cook reasonably often this knife is a must purchase.

I purchased this knife last year around Christmas time as a gift, I recently was visiting the person I gifted this knife to, and had the opportunity to ask about and use the knife. This person does not regularly hone the knife, and they were telling me how outstanding it still is and how much they love it and its the best knife they have ever used.I personally own several Shun's, Henckels, etc, and love them and hone them like once a month depending on usage, as most do, I can appreciate a good edge. So I was a bit surprised when this person said they use the knife often (I know this to be true), and it still cuts great after 8 months since I gifted it to them, I asked them how often they take a honing steel to it and they said they haven't had to yet. I looked at them a bit surprised, was eager to cut something with said knife, and expected it to hone it while I was there. I then used the knife and was amazed that it still had such a good edge on it, without one honing, 8 months later. Even my Shun's after a month or so of medium usage I crave putting it to a honing steel, I was very happily surprised this knife retained such a good edge for so long. In my opinion the Yoshihiro even looks better than my Shun Premier too... I am set for knives for the next 5 to 10 years but I would highly recommend this knife to others.Highly recommend.

So I was unhappy originally with the quality of these knives because after a few months of use, there appeared some discoloration and chips on the edge. I complained to their customer service and they've been highly responsive, explaining the cause of these chips (apparently my mishandling!). So while I think the knives are probably great quality and they chop well, I still wouldn't highly recommend them because they require more delicate handling. I'm used to my knives chopping through most everything, not having to think about my chopping surface, if they're left wet, etc. but apparently with all Japanese steel knives, these are all things you need to take into consideration. So just keep in mind that, while these are sharp and chop very well, these aren't easy utility knives to be used and washed however.

I got this santoku for my wife based on my experience owning a Yoshihiro Blue Steel Hon Kasumi Deba and other using MOKI's VG-10 steel. Since this is a stainless steel knife, it doesn't need a lot of maintenance, which my wife loves. She loves the hammered texture on the knife as it prevents food materials sticking onto the knife. This knife also has damascus cladding on the sides of the knife that adds visual appeal to the aesthetics. The steel is one of the best Japanese stainless steels you can buy and it keeps a good working edge as I only need to hone it on a ceramic stick once a week. I haven't had the time to sharpen it on my waterstones but I foresee no problem in sharpening it to a scary sharp edge and keeping that edge for a long time. Fit and finish of the santoku is very acceptable at this price range.

This knife just will not get very sharp!I have a small collection of Japanese knives and am very experienced with sharpening them with Japanese whetstones. Most of them are inexpensive high carbon steel knives so I decided to treat myself to this Yoshihiro Damascus steel knife. I've had it for about 6 months and have resharpened it several times and it simply will not get razor sharp like my other knives. I talked with Bruce the master sharpener at Yoshihiro and he insisted that I must be doing something wrong with the sharpening technique that I use. He suggested viewing a video of him sharpening a knife and I use the same technique. I asked whether there is any difference between sharpening this Yoshihiro Damascus steel knife and the plain high carbon steel knives. He said it is the same. He was quite adamant that it must be my fault and my poor sharpening technique. But if so, how is it that the Yoshihiro knife is the only one that will not become very sharp. He seemed to be more intent on placing blame on my sharpening technique than being concerned about customer satisfaction and the quality of the knife.It seems that most of the glowing five-star reviews are about it's beautiful appearance and craftsmanship, or about how sharp it is out of the box. No doubt, these are very beautiful knives and they seem to be of very high quality in other ways. But what's the use if they don't get sharp!?