ST900 Japanese Kitchen Cooking Chef Gyutou Knife, 11-13/16 Inches

Looks great for the price. Not a quality knife, to be sure, but it has the right look.

I got the gyuto and goodness knows it's everything I wanted and expected, and it may be that for you too. The foreseen bad: Fit and finish. The blade isn't quite in line with the handle, gaps between tang and handle, the grind was either sloppily asymmetrical or just sloppy period, handle proud of the ferrule. I know this is a cheap knife but if you get a Mercer Ultimate White you pay less and get a cheap but properly made knife. Just saying. The good: the blade did cut. I put it on the stones to make it cut the way I like, and it seems pretty OK now. It'll provide good sharpening practice as well as handle customization. And it should do pretty well as a knife, once I get it in shape. It's 420J2 steel, real bottom end but at least it's a named steel and you know what you have. Not good or bad but simply weird: It wasn't branded "Tsubazo" but Ryuseki, which may be the main outfit that makes these under different brand names. No big. Long story short, if money's tight or you want a beater to play with, go for it. You won't find a cheaper Japanese knife IMHO.

Works well enough. Has a hard time staying sharp with normal kitchen use. But super light.

I am a professional chef and avid Japanese artisan knife collector… I bought this knife for the fun of it because I saw it at TJ maxx (random right?) and said “why not?”. For what this knife costs, it is honestly stellar. The steel is cheap, but the knife is thin and it’s ground quite thin as well so the cutting feel is above its pay grade … it’s crazy light because of the size/thinness of the blade and the Ho wood handle (it’s about 170-175mm so around 6.5 inches). And if you know your way around a whetstone, nothing fancy, just a King 1000 ($22 right here on Amazon) will get this knife sharp enough to shave your arm in just a few minutes. Also because it’s a stainless steel blade and not incredibly hard steel, the knife is very durable so no worries if chipping or anything like that.I own thousands of dollars worth of Japanese knives and still I feel strongly enough about this knife to leave this review! It gets used in my house every single day by my girlfriend and I and for what it costs it’s impressive to say the least. If you don’t know anything about knives but are curious about Japanese knives or you are looking for a Japanese knife to learn sharpening on or you are just looking for a great knife that is less than $20, this is the one.