About the Shape -This is also a multi-purpose knife, but with a slight vegetable bias. Santoku means 'Three Virtues' or 'To solve Three Problems'. The virtues or problems are slicing, dicing and mincing. Santoku is usually found in 160mm - 190mm lengths. These are more and more popular in Western kitchens due to their unique shape and smaller easy-to-handle size.

About Ryusen Oukokuryu - Ryusen Hamono was founded in 1948 as a knife sharpening company. They worked with companies like Takefu Special Steel as early as the 1970s to develop high-quality knives made with stainless steel, at a time when most other knife makers were struggling to produce decent stainless steel knives. Now, they have expanded their collection of knives not only having sharpness and longevity in mind but with a sleek modern design.

The Oukokuryu (shining black dragon) series is the pinnacle of high-end Japanese knife design. The blade is forged from super-hard SG2 stainless steel, known for superior edge-retention and laser-sharpness. The ornate poplar handle is the crown jewel on the 98-layer damascus masterpiece.