Miyabi Fusion 5.5 Hollow Edge Santoku Knife

First things first, this is a beautiful knife! The grain pattern created by the layered steel is just as striking in person as it is in the photo's, if not more so. I have a Shun Classic knife which has the same layered Damascus steel cladding, but the effect is quite different on this Miyabi. Where the Shun shows what almost look like zebra stripes, the Miyabi is more of a mottled appearance. Maybe this is due to the Shun containing 16 layers as compared to the Miyabi's 32 layers? While there is likely no functional difference with the differing layer counts, it is quite pretty! Moving on to the rest of the knife, the Miyabi logo is nicely done, and the splash of red it contains is well matched to the red inserts in the handle grip. This knife is truly a work of art.I don't know if I buy into the whole "Sharpened like a Katana, Honbazuke honed edge" hype, but it is consistently sharp from heel to tip, with a visually perfect edge right from the box, and it feels practically effortless to cut through just about anything. I know it's an over-used cliche, but it is such a joy to cut with. If you are new to expensive knives of this quality you will be absolutely amazed at how sharp this knife is. If you have experience with high end knives, this one is as sharp as any other, right out of the box (Like my Shun's). If you own a strop, then I'm sure with minimal effort this knife can be as sharp as any in your collection. As far as the durability of the edge, it should perform like any other VG10 blade, and will likely be more influenced by how well you take care of it.The geometry on this blade is a little puzzling to me. When shopping for a new Santoku, I really wanted to buy another Shun as I love my others, but the Shun Santoku is quite curved which is not what I was looking for. The other Santoku's in Miyabi's line looked to have a similar curve to the Shun, but in pictures at least, this one looked flatter. I like Santoku's in part because they generally have a relatively flat blade curvature, and this blade is relatively flat towards the heel of the knife, but there is a pretty pronounced up-curve towards the tip more like a chef's knife. It's not as pronounced as on my Wusthof, which I find irritating in that regard, but it is definitely more than what I think of as a traditional Santoku.Ergonomics: This is a full-tang knife with the weight to match, it feels more like a German chef's knife in weight than a traditional Japanese knife. I personally like the heft and I think it contributes to how sharp the knife feels, let the weight of the knife cut for you and all that, but your own personal tastes may differ. The handle is more like a traditional western style and contributes to it feeling more like a German Chef's knife than a Japanese Santoku. It is a little long in my opinion, you could take a full inch off it and I would never notice (I have avg. size Man-Hands), but it is not too think and is nicely contoured up near the bolster and manages to feel very well balanced overall. Speaking of the bolster, it blends the handle into the blade nicely, and this is the first time I've seen this on a knife: it also blends into a rounded spine, and there is even a slight rounding on the back of the heel. This knife was *Made* for using the pinch grip! Although I have yet to have any marathon cutting sessions with this beauty, it feels sooo good with the pinch grip that I could see working for hours with this thing without it getting uncomfortable. Contrast that with some other knives I own, where the spine starts to cut into your hand within minutes, and I think I'll be grinding all my knives to match. This is such a simple modification, I don't understand why it isn't standard everywhere...I do however have a complaint, and it is one I've seen on other Miyabi Fusion knife reviews: The handle pieces do not line up flush with the tang. Where it matters most, up close to the bolster, it's not too bad... But if you run your finger along the seam it gets worse towards the back. This doesn't seem to impact comfort or performance in any way, and I'm probably overstating the significance of the mismatch, but such a shortcoming is really unbecoming of an otherwise perfectly engineered knife.Pluses:+ Visually Stunning+ Wonderfully Sharp+ Comfortable to useMinuses:- Uneven seam between handle and tangClosing words:This knife has a bit of an identity crisis in my opinion: It's a Santoku that wants to be a Chef's knife. It has a Chef knife's handle, a Chef knife's blade curve, and a Chef knife's weight. I didn't want a Chef's knife, I wanted a Santoku. I have a Wusthof Chef's knife, and I don't really care for it: The handle is clumsy, the curve of the blade awkward, the weight out of balance, and my hands hurt after using it for not very long. I considered returning this knife as a result, but after using it for a few days I am not only going to keeping it, but it may just be my new favorite knife. I realized that the parts about it that remind me of a Chef's knife were characteristics that were exaggerated in my Wusthof, but in the case of this knife, were actually nicely balanced.And boy is it pretty...

a nice enough knife i suppose, it's very sharp and has a good heft to it.for the price?meh, not so much.the "Damascus" cladding is nothing more than an affectation. i looks like a sticker that somebody put on a regular knife. it begings about 3/8" of an inch from the hilt and continues up the blade to the tip with a 1/4-3/8" reveal to the real blade beneath.at the hilt where it starts you can pick at it with your fingernail and it feels like you could peel it off if you really tried. it really does seem like just a damascus sticker on the blade.the only purpose for it to be there at all is for it to look cool to someone watching the user.the picture in the ad does not show enough detail for this flaw to be apparent, if it had i never would have ordered it.i have another knife coming from the same manufacturer, different seller, a 10" chef knife. if it is the same way i will be returning them both.i am quite dissapointed, actually.

Purchased as a gift. Second one different size

I bought my mom the Miyabi Fusion 8" chef's knife and it is awesome in every way, but this santoku has a tiny child sized handle.

Very sharp and functional knife.