Fujiwara Santoku 165

Fujiwara Santoku 165

Handmade Santoku 165 Japanese cutlery blade from Fujiwara – Seki, Japan

Few areas in the world are so renowned for bladed tools as Seki Japan. With traditions spanning over 700 year, there is no doubt that the Katanas and Cutlery from this area are among the finest in the world.

The Santoku is a general-purpose Japanese kitchen knife. Santokus come in many shapes and types, the most known is the sheepsfoot design with a relatively straight belly. The straighter belly is also the most pronounced difference in western style chef´s knives and a Japanese Santoku. While chef´s knives usually rely on a rocking motion to complete a cut against a straight board, the Santoku relies on a straight push/pull method whereas much of the blade as possible is in contact with the foodstuffs, ultimately giving a cleaner cut.

The upper parts of the blades are covered in a traditional coating. This coating gives a luster to the iron, as well as offering some protection against corrosion.

The word Santoku can be translated to the Three Virtues Knife, cutting, slicing and chopping. Literally everything you will ever need from a kitchen knife.

Few steels reach such an almost mythical status as Hitachis White and Blue paper steels. This Nakiri is made out of Hitatchi White Steel No. 2, which is a low alloy high carbon steel often used in premium knives from Japan.

The most known Hitachi steels are SK steels, Blue steel, White steel and Yellow steel. The SK steels come in grades 3-5 where #3 has the most carbon and #5 the least. Yellow steel is a cleaner variant of the SK series and contains less alloys. Yellow steel is commonly found in woodworking tools and some knives. The main steels used are the White and Blue paper steels, these have an even purer alloy with variations in carbon content. Blue steel has added chromium and tungsten for better corrosion resistance and edge retention at the cost of more brittleness, more difficult to sharpen and not being able to take as keen of an edge.

For both Blue and White steels #1 has the most carbon and lowering with higher number. The higher the carbon content the harder it is possible to get the steel, but this also leads to a more brittle blade. Out of types 1, 2 and 3, the No. 2 is seen as the best all-round variant with great sharpness, edge retention and toughness.

Blade length: 165mm
Blade width: 47mm
Blade thickness: 2,8-1,2mm tapered
Total length: 248mm
Steel: Hitachi White Paper No.2 Core, soft iron sides

These are high performance carbon steel blades and require more maintenance compared to a normal stainless kitchen knife. Never put in dishwasher, never chop anything frozen, never chop bones. Always clean and dry carefully after use, apply a light layer of vegetable oil after cleaning before putting into storage. Seems like a lot or work and things to think about, but it really is no different to grandmas cast iron cooking pots and pans.