ST400 Japanese Kitchen Cooking Chef Sashimi Knife, 12-5/8 Inches

Sharp out of the box. Nice lightweight handle, easy to hold and grab while cutting. Really cool santoku shape and design. Does not stress the wrist because it is light in the right places. The blade has a nice weight to it so it feels great slicing and chopping. I cook often and needed a regular sized kitchen knife and this was a great puchase for it's price. Grab a whetstone while you're at it in case you need to maintain sharpness. So far has not dulled out. I will update with blade sharpness and durability overall in the future.

Wish it was a little heavier. Very sharp. A good budget knife.

I'm an amateur at sushi making, and I got this knife a little over a year ago after finally accepting that a regular chef's knife really doesn't cut it (pun probably not intended).I found that even making at least 6 rolls of sushi at least once a week, I was able to go 8 months before needing to sharpen this bad boy. Granted I washed and dried it thoroughly, and keep it stored in the original box with a silica pack in there, but even if you aren't as neurotic as me, as long as you don't use it as a chopper it should hold an edge pretty well.Lastly and most importantly is cost. I don't think a DIY sushi guy like me would notice any benefit from a knife two, three, or ten times as expensive, and I doubt more expensive ones are much more durable.

Nice knife But no where near sharp.Won't even cut a paper towel.

If you have been searching for the cheapest traditional style Japanese made santoku, then you've found it here. However, you get what you pay for, so don't expect much.Let's start with the good. The blade is the proper shape and length. It has the traditional handle style, and is shaped for right handed people, and the blade collar is proper. Finding that feature by itself seems to be difficult even in more expensive knives, so I appreciate that. It has traditional style hand chiseled Kanji on the blade, and this knife looks great. But that's pretty much where the good ends.At this price point, you have to know that you're not getting a sushi chef's level of a knife. Out of the box it's fairly sharp. But after infrequent use after only 6 months or so, the blade is starting to have a hard time breaking the skin of a tomato. Sure, onions and other veggies that you just hack through to dice them up are no problem, but for precision cuts like tuna there is a lot to be desired. It's simply not up to code for what you would expect from a Japanese made blade.I know there are reviews saying to just get a sharpening stone. Well I have one. But to get this thing to where I'd want it in sharpness, I'd need a whetstone that would be incredibly expensive. If I had the money to spend hundreds on a good stone, I would simply use it to buy a Shun blade that won't go dull instantly and be done with it.Like others have said, I was shocked to see how this knife is so incredibly thin and ridiculously light. I'm fine with a thin blade, but I have no idea what kind of wood they used for the handle that it weighs next to nothing. Because of this, the balance is off and I'm not getting the right results from my normal cutting technique. And it's not that it's too top heavy, it's just too light overall.To top it off, the santoku I received had scratches all over one side of the blade. I started thinking that maybe I got a returned item or a counterfeit after realizing how generally underperforming it is. But after seeing other reviews, I can only guess that most people have no idea what a Japanese santoku is supposed to look, feel, and cut like, and they see it as any other kitchen knife, which is not what it's designed to be.Overall, it has all the looks you'd expect from a traditional Japanese santoku for a great price, but you do get what you pay for. The rating I'm giving is mainly because of the damage to the blade, and the seemingly cheap material used for the handle. Either way, I'll use it for now until I can afford better.

As someone on a tight budget, I love this knife. I feel much more inclined to cook meals at home just so I can use this knife. I had a chef for a father, so I appreciate quality knives that can hold a sharp edge. Best with fish, but I also use it for slicing tomatoes.

Sharp and affordable. Bought another one for a family member because it was that good. I loved how versatile it was and the comfortable feel when used.

Satisfied, exactly what I ordered. It will need periodical whetstone angled sharpening to remain a dependable working knife.