About Ryusen Blazen Ryu - Of all the makers currently crafting blades in Japan, Ryusen makes some of the cleanest, most consistent, and most comfortable kitchen knives I’ve ever handled. Founded in 1948, Ryusen started producing high-quality stainless steel blades long before others in the industry, working closely with companies like Takefu Special Steel as early as the 1970s.

I’ve been guilty of comparing kitchen knives to sports cars more than once, and this is exactly the kind of knife I’m talking about when I make that comparison: sleek, badass, and incredibly fun to cut with. The handle is tapered to fit your hand perfectly, making the knife an extension of your hand.

When it gets to work, it’s stupidly sharp thanks to a core of super-hard SG2 steel, so the razor-thin edge just blows through whatever ingredients you place before it. It’s actually difficult to put this knife down and move on to the next task.

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 the unique shape and smaller easy to handle size.