Yamamoto AS Damascus Santoku

This is a food prep knife designed for users who value excellent sharpness and edge retention and who can tolerate the reactivity of the blade as they are prone to discolor food they come in contact with. They are best honed with leather strops and sharpened on high-grit waterstones.

Nao Yamamoto is a master-blacksmith working in Echizen and a member of the Takefu Knife Village. Yamamoto purchased the Asai factory after apprenticing for Masami Asai and Shiro Kamo. We think very highly of his work and look forward to more from his factory.

The blades are hand-forged Damascus-clad Aogami Super (Blue Super) steel, which offers exceptional edge retention but must be kept dry.

The handles are octagonal rosewood with pakka ferrule

Kitchen knives are used to cut the ingredients in your food. Japanese kitchen knives are famous for their sharpness and edge retention. Japanese chef knives are brittle and are designed for cutting soft tissue foods. High Carbon steel chef knives can rust if not kept dry.