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Top 9 Japanese Knife Brands for Professional Cooking Experience

Japan always brings us surprises and satisfaction. And Japanese chef knife brands are no exception. Using these high quality Japanese knives, you will feel the sharpness and techniques. They will bring you the most impressive experience. With this article, Battersby will introduce to you our top favorite knife brands of Japanese of all time.

Best Knife Brands from Japanese on the market

Top 9 best Japanese knife brands of Japanese for a kitchen are given below.

  • Sakai Takayuki
  • Tojiro
  • Miyabi
  • Masamoto
  • Misono
  • Shun Kaiura
  • MAC
  • Global
  • Yoshihiro

 

1. Sakai Takayuki

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Knives of Sakai Takayuki 

Sakai is the pride of Japan. With a history of 600 years, this knife brand is dominating the field of cutlery in the worldwide market. Sakai is a city located on Osaka Bay on the main island of Japan. 

The knives from this brand are quite different from other knife brands in terms of features. The materials are also different. 

The Sakai Takayuki Chef Knife comes with a 33 layer design of Damascus steel on the blade surface. Damascus stainless steel is wrapped and folded with VG10’s special cut core. This feature is included for the sharpest cutting experience as it has a hardness of 61 Rockwell.

The knives are sharp at each edge and the blades have a pointed tip. All of Sakai Takayuki’s knives are handcrafted in their own traditional way.

Highlight features

  • Traditional Japanese Damascus layers and hand-forged steel.
  • Good blade durability and strength.
  • Blend traditional art and cutting edge technology.
  • Premium knife material with cutting core for outstanding sharpness.
  • Mahogany handles which fit well and look stylish.

2. Tojiro

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Chef’s knife from Tojiro

Tojiro is a well-known leading Japanese knife brand for the kitchen with many good japanese knife makers. The company is located in Niigata, Japan. Tojiro japan co ltd has been manufacturing kitchen knives for more than 60 years.

Decarburization Prevention method is the mystery weapon of them. Many of their products have received beautiful design awards from the Japanese Ministry of Industry and Trade. They have over 800 products on the market. They are selling products all over the world with pride.

Tojiro has a unique series called origami. Origami is a Japanese cultural art made by folding paper. If you’ve ever seen any origami, you can easily see the similarities between the Tojiro origami knife and traditional Japanese origami. 

Highlight features

  • Reasonable price and good value for the money.
  • A wide variety of products includes both Western knives and Japanese knives.
  • Customizable handles and blades.
  • High quality material.
  • Suitable for both household kitchen and professional.

View more: Why do meat cleavers have a hole

3. Miyabi

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Miyabi Japanese knives

Miyabi is a knife making brand owned by the company Zwilling Group. However, this brand produces the sharpest knives and it is appreciated for their extreme sharpness. 

With the assurance of the three elements of grace, elegance and purity, Miyabi manufactures its knives. Because of these three things, Miyabi knives are always special and unique.

Like Solingen in Germany, Seki city is the blade capital of Japan and thus the center of Japanese knife manufacturing. Zwilling J.A. Henckels Japan acquired one of the leading manufacturers of high quality knives based in Seki city in 2004. 

The Miyabi knife comes with a D-shaped and Pakkawood handle for a comfortable grip. Overall, with other kitchen accessories such as steel sharpeners, scissors, and knife blocks, Miyabi is a brand known to all.

Highlight features

  • Authentic Japanese knives.
  • Fascinating design, the knives look like Samurai swords.
  • It takes 42 days and 130 steps to finish a Miyabi kitchen knife.
  • The company wants to ensure quality more than quantity.

4. Masamoto Sohonten

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Masamoto chef’s knife

Pursuing his dream in 1866, Minosuke Matsuzawa founded the company to become a proud knife-maker. Now his knife company is destroying the knife industry generation after generation. 

Therefore, Masamoto Sohonten is also considered as one of the best knife brands in the world for making the best professional chef’s knife ever.

The brand strives to visually deliver knives that are sharp in their original condition and become sharper and sharpest when it is finished with an abrasive process. 

This brand will certainly uphold the integrity and legacy of its founder. By preserving heritage, the brand is constantly refining and producing high-quality knives.

Masamoto Sohonten offers knives that are designed both inside and out with historical feelings. This is their main meaning in a knife. 

With uniform excellence and nobility, each of their knives is certainly a masterpiece that can be used years after years.

Highlight features

  • Since 1907, the brand has achieved numerous awards. Including Hyper Molybdenum Steel Western-style Knife in 2011.
  • Their chef’s knife for professional chefs are forged and tempered carefully.
  • Razor sharp edge and high durability.
  • Extensive hardening process.
  • A wide range of products.

5. Misono

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Misono stainless steel knives

Misono is known as one of the oldest knife brands of Japanese for making western style knives. Since 1935, this small brand has been trying to be everyone’s favorite. Although Misono is just a small knife brand, it is destroying the world of cutlery. 

The surprising fact about this company is that it only has 50 executive workers. Also, these fifty workers produce 150,000 knives a year and that’s crazy.

Less residential, they still offer great quality and level in their products. Durable and premium build quality, extreme craftsmanship, best edge retention, comfortable grip and a shiny blade. What more could you want?

This is the first and perhaps only manufacturer on the list, who test each work of their house, before putting it on the market. To ensure quality, the rest of the brands just follow the batch inspection model.

Highlight features

  • Handcrafted Japanese knives.
  • They give high attention to detail.
  • Ready to use and it is razor sharp out of the box.
  • Completely unique and special knife making process.

6. Shun Kaiura Cutlery

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Shun cutlery with quality blades

The name Shun honors a tradition of mindful, seasonal dining and is a hallmark of our dedication to crafting kitchen cutlery that is always at the pinnacle of perfection.

Among all the top knife brands, Shun cutlery has earned a special place for their quality products over the course of 100 years. Seki City is famous for its cutlery industry. This is the home city of Kai Corporation. 

Shun is very specific about their knife handles. They use a pakkawood handle. Three types of pakkawood are commonly found. Pakkawood is a combination of natural wood and plastic wood. It is completely waterproof and does not absorb moisture. 

Highlight features

  • Premium 7 standards of knives ensure highest craftsmanship and performance.
  • Damascus finishes enhance sharp edge.
  • Totally high carbon steel handcrafted.
  • Free sharpening service.

7. MAC

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High quality stainless steel MAC knives

A champion knife brand for better edge retention. With MAC knives, you can expect decent edge retention, little or no corrosion, and stay sharp for the longest time.

MAC was introduced in 1964, when Tokyo hosted the 18th Summer Olympics. Their knives are some of the sharpest knives in MAC parlance, and they have sold millions of knives. since then.

MAC’s knives are made entirely in Japan and most of the process is completely handmade. Making a single knife takes several weeks, which is not the same for every tool. Their knives are definitely sharp and versatile. Most chefs find their knives fairly easy to sharpen.

However, this brand uses special high carbon steel to make the blades. Steel is made from Chromium, Molybdenum and Vanadium. As a result, the knives get superior strength, durability and edge strength.

Highlight features

  • The knives brand claims to be the sharpest kitchen knives in the world.
  • Unique stamp.
  • Highly effective compared with German knives.
  • Their knives are phenomenal due to an advanced cutting angle of 45.5 degrees.

8. Global

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Global knives from Japan

To create a revolutionary knife, Komin Yamada first made the kitchen knife in 1985. Since then Global has created its niche to be among the top brands of knives. 

Conceptualize the best design and materials available for knives harnessed by Global Company. Inspired by the form of a Japanese sword, the brand produces knives by expert craftsmen by hand.

You can imagine their popularity. Their products are quite limited in stock most of the time. Restoring their store took quite a few weeks because of their manual manufacturing process. However, they do offer a lifetime warranty.

Highlight features

  • Extremely thin but razor-edge blades.
  • One-piece kitchen knife makes it easy to clean.
  • Unlimited budget to produce quality knives, they take every attention to detail.
  • 50 different functions from tradition to professional kitchen.

Related: Pakkawood

9. Yoshihiro

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Chef’s knife from Yoshihiro cutlery

Yoshihiro Cutlery is a company specializing in high-end handmade Japanese kitchen knives. With a history of more than 100 years, the Yoshihiro knife brand has been a leading supplier of high-end kitchen cutlery in Japan.

Countless professional chefs worldwide trusted and used their knives. The brand has inherited the Japanese tradition of beauty and excellence. Although knife making is one of the most difficult skills to master, Yoshihiro excels at it.

Yoshihiro divides knives into two basic types according to angle. Single-edged sword and double-edged sword. They make different knives for different uses. 

Along with a number of general purpose knives, they also make a number of knives for specific uses. For example, the deba knife is used to make filet mignon. Yanagi knife for cutting sushi and sashimi.

Highlight features

  • Premium and exclusive steel materials like white and blue steel Suminagashi.
  • Octagonal handle shape for the user for exceptional grip.
  • Special Tsubaki oil.
  • Limited editions of kitchen knives for better experience.

Conclusion

Each Japanese knife brand has a different feature and a different product line. However, what they have in common is perfection and always picky in production. That’s also why we love their products.

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