ShunKanso 5.5" Hollow Ground Santoku Knife, Handcrafted Japanese All Purpose Knife, AUS10A Stainless Steel Blade, Tagayasan Handle, Versatile Japanese Cutting Tool for Professional and Home Chefs

I have several of the knives in the Kanso series. I love the aesthetics of them, and I love their design - which is kind of a fusion of Japanese and "Western" knife design. They are priced quite a bit better than the Shun knives built with VG10 and VGmax steel (such as the Shun Classic), which is nice - and the AUS08/AUS10 steel is very good.Beware that a sharpening steel is just about useless to keep these edges honed. You really need a ceramic honing rod or a strop loaded with honing paste/rouge to keep this steel razor sharp. You'll need whetstones to retouch the edge from time to time. This is what you get when you buy knives made from good hard steel like this.THE FLAW:What I hate about the Kanso is the handle. While I love the look that has the tang of the blade sticking out slightly from the handles (scales), it's irritating in the hand especially when you are doing lots of slicing. Even worse is the lanyard hole at the top/back of the tang (what's that for, anyway???). It digs into the heel of the palm in a very annoying way. I'm almost ready to take my knife set to the belt sander and grind it all smooth. The Shun Classic handle is far, far more ergonomic.

This is an awesome knife! I already had the 7-inch Kanso santoku, so I knew it would be great. It is well-balanced, VERY sharp, durable, and just the right size for small to medium jobs. It is a perfect addition to .g kitchen.

good quality, took a short time to sharpen it and it got very sharp then

I’ve bought two knives from this series and this is has become my main knife for everything. I love the lightweight feel the sharpness of the blade and the compact size. I couldn’t be happier. These knives are like little swords. Way higher quality than any knives I’ve used before. I’ve worked in kitchens for ten years and these are by far the sharpest knives I’ve ever seen right out of the box. Most kitchens I’ve been in carry lower end Wüsthof or dexter knives that have handles too large and uncomfortable for me. I realized my cuts aren’t as good as they were in my earlier years of cooking. With these Kanso knives I’m back on point with my cuts and because of the razor sharpness of the blade I find myself really paying more attention to detail and taking more pride in what I’m preparing as compared to hacking up some onions or tomatoes on the fly with a dull blade that just smashes through veggies. These knives slice effortlessly and I don’t actually know if it’s these blades giving me way more precision or if it’s just the excitement of ownership that reignited my passion for food prep. I like to think a bit of both come into play. Amazing knives I will definitely buy more from this series

This knife is a masterpiece from the handle to the incredibly sharp blade. Perfect balance, lightweight and very easy to wield, highly satisfied!

It seems weird that people have received bad versions of this item, although I suppose no manufacturing process is perfect. My knife was delivered with no flaws or any other craftsmanship issues, and it works well, as expected.

Gorgeous knives that are very well crafted. Worth every penny. Make dinner prep so much easier.

This a quality.. Such a great knife. I absolutely love it.

Love worth every penny. Perfect for everyday cooking. It pairs well with my 7 inch Shun.