First Japanese Santoku

Hi all,

First of all, I would like to introduce myself. I'm a 29 french guy who loves cooking and baking pastries and desert more particularly.

I recently discovered Japanese knives and would like to make myself a really good gift by buying a Santoku as I really like this knife type

Since two or three weeks, I spend hours on forums, looking for the best knife to buy but now, I must confess, after reading and reading, I m a bit lost.

In short, firstly I was thinking of getting a Damascus knife because of their appearance but regarding my budget (around $200/250) I don't think it's the best choice to do.

I'm also really fancy WA handles, more than Western styles.

My first choice was for a Mizuno Santoku with Blue Steel blade but after reading I discovered it was not a proper Mizuno but an outsourced version not well finished.

Now, my list has spreaded quite a lot and I don't see how to filter it out by myself. I really need your expertise

- Misono UX10

- Masamoto HC

- Hattori FH

- Hiromoto Damascus

- Ryusen Blazen

- Ryusen Damascus

- JCK Fu Rin Ka Zan

Thanks for your time in advance, much appreciated

Julien

Thanks for your help.

Your UX10 might be a good idea to start with but I m a bit afraid by shipping cost to France. Any clue how much it costs ?

In the meantime, I have seem other interesting knifes :

- Damascus 101 special on JCK

- Furinkazan (really brut with a WA handle ^^)

- Inazuma (also on JCK quite cheap)

- Honosuke

Too many choices ...

cheers !

Hi,

it s me again :)

After spending my time looking arround again and again, I definitely think taht buying a Gyuto as a first proper knife might be a better idea tahn going for a Santoku. Am I right ?

As i have only used short knives yet, I was thinking of a 210 mm one.

The question of the brand remains :

- Masamoto HC

- Konosuke HD

- Aritsugu A

- Kikuichi TKC

- Moritaka

- Sakai Takayuki

- Gesshin Ginga

- Watanabeblade (really nice but short 180 mm and expensive ..)

- Asai  Enji

- Kumagoro

- Yoshikane

...

I definitely prefer WA handles to western one. What s the best value for money ? What should I evict from my list ?

thanks a lot !

Unfortunately, in France, I have only seen Chroma brand knifes ... and no brand like Masamoto, misono and so on until now :(