Hitohira Imojiya MZ 145mm Santoku VG1 Imitation Mahogany

A great bang for the buck on these hand ground factory forged san mai VG1 stainless steel knives made in Seki, Gifu prefecture Japan. These convex faced blades are ground thin behind the edge giving them great smooth cutting feel and good food release.

VG1 is a stainless Japanese cutlery steel that is very similar to more well known VG10 but lacks some of the wear resistance of VG10 giving it slightly less edge life and toughness but giving it much easier sharpen-ability with excellent edge formation. In many ways it is very similar to some popular Swedish stainless steels but without the name recognition. These are finished and handled simply but definitely outperform their finish level and price.