30 DAYS OPEN PURCHASEA standard-length santoku is the knife a large part of Japan cooks with. Not because there are no alternatives, but because the shape genuinely works: broad enough for lifting ingredients, short enough for quick control, versatile enough to handle most ingredients without changing knives.
The Senzo Retro Santoku 167 mm is made by Suncraft in Seki City, Japan, a knife manufacturer established in 1948. The blade has a three-layer construction with hardened Ginsan as the core steel, a semi-stainless steel with edge retention similar to carbon steel and a hardness of 59-61 HRC. It responds to sharpening better than most European kitchen knife steels and holds its edge longer. The finish is nashiji, a matte, textured pear-skin pattern applied to the softer cladding steel that reduces friction against the ingredient. The handle is made from wenge, octagonal in shape, with a density and natural weight that balance the blade well.
Blade length: 167 mm. Construction: San Mai. Grind: double bevel 50/50. Made in Japan.
