Four Japanese Chef's Knives Worth Gifting This Year
If you're picking a Japanese chef's knife as a gift, the sticker price varies a lot, from about $100 to nearly $180. All four below are 8-inch or 21cm chef's knives (gyuto) from Japanese makers, listed from the most affordable to the most expensive.
Global G-2 — the all-steel gyuto that costs about a hundred dollars
The G-2 is the 8-inch chef's knife (gyuto in Japanese) from Global, the Yoshikin line that came out of Niigata in the mid-1980s. Like the santoku already on our design-icons list, it's molded from one piece of stainless steel with a dimpled handle, so there's no seam for food to collect in. It's the most approachable of the four knives here: lighter and easier to maintain than a carbon-steel blade, and a sensible first Japanese knife for someone who cooks most nights.
MAC MTH-80 — the dimpled blade that shows up in a lot of working kitchens
MAC makes its knives in Seki, Gifu, one of Japan's old blade-making towns. The MTH-80 is an 8-inch chef's knife with small dimples along the blade, which let slices of potato or cucumber release instead of sticking. It's a pro-series blade that has a following among working cooks, and at about $160 it's near the top of this group, so it suits someone who already knows they like a Japanese-style chef's knife.
Misono 440 — a stainless gyuto with a following among serious home cooks
The 440 is Misono's stainless molybdenum steel line, in a classic Western-style handle and a 21cm (8.2-inch) gyuto blade. It sits in the middle of this group on price, and it's the pick for someone who wants a Japanese chef's knife with a Western-style handle.
Shun Classic — the gift knife with the Damascus-pattern blade
Shun is Kai's premium line. Kai is a company from Seki, Gifu that has been making blades since 1908. The Classic 8-inch chef's knife has a VG-MAX core wrapped in layers of Damascus-pattern stainless, and a D-shaped pakkawood handle. It's the one on this list that looks like a gift as soon as it comes out of the box, which makes it the natural pick for the person who already has a decent knife and would like a better one.
How to choose
Start at the budget end with the Global G-2 if the knife is for someone who's never used a Japanese blade. Move up to the Misono or MAC for someone who cooks a lot and wants a thinner edge, and choose the Shun for a gift that should feel like one. For all of them, a hand wash and a dry towel are part of the deal.
More Japan-sourced picks, verified available on Amazon.com, are on the Japan Finds page.