• Masutani VG1 Tsuchime Western Ko-Santoku 130mm from Masutani
  • Masutani VG1 Tsuchime Western Ko-Santoku 130mm from Masutani
  • Masutani VG1 Tsuchime Western Ko-Santoku 130mm from Masutani
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Masutani VG1 Tsuchime Western Ko-Santoku 130mm

Masutani VG1 Tsuchime Western Ko-Santoku 130mm

$126.00 CAD
$126.00 CAD
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About Masutani -  Masutani Hamono has been producing high-quality kitchen knives for four generations in Echizen city. Their goal is to create high-quality blades at an accessible price point for anyone, and they’ve nailed it. Their blades are super accessible and cut like a dream, being lovingly shaped, polished, and handled by grandfather, father, and son. 

Working with stainless steels such as VG10 and VG1 ensures they take and keep an edge just as well as some of the fancier Japanese knives out there but aren’t as fragile or prone to rust as knives made from high-carbon steel. This furthers their accessibility, making them a valuable tool for anyone who wants to upgrade their kitchen toolkit. Typically finished with a Western-style riveted handle, called a ‘yo-handle’ in Japan, they have a confident feel without being as heavy as many Western-style knives. They feel well-balanced for professionals, home cooks, and even burnt-out retired chefs like me.




About the Shape -This is also a multi-purpose knife, but with a slight vegetable bias. Santoku means 'Three Virtues' or 'To solve Three Problems'. The virtues or problems are slicing, dicing and mincing. Santoku is usually found in 160mm - 190mm lengths. These are more and more popular in Western kitchens due to their unique shape and smaller easy-to-handle size.

Shape Santoku
Maintenance Level Low
Blade Length 130 mm |
Blade Height 36 mm
Thickness 2 mm
Weight 104 g
Steel Type VG1 Stainless Steel with Stainless Steel Cladding
Rockwell Hardness 58 - 61
Edge/Bevel Double (50/50)
Handle Western Handle - Pakkawood Metal Bolster
Made in Echizen, Fukui, Japan

Stainless steel is super handy because it doesn’t rust or stain easily like carbon steel. That said, remember it is stain-less, not stain-never. While it is much easier to care for than high-carbon steel, it does benefit from proper use: use it, wash it, dry it and put it away. Always avoid the dishwasher!

USE  

• Only cut food you can bite through with this knife. Hard foods can chip the blade. No olive pits, bones,  lobster shells, woody stems or parmesan rinds. Cutting frozen food is especially bad  because the cold will make hard steel even more brittle. If you wouldn’t chew it with  your own teeth, don’t cut it.  

• Your cutting surface is the biggest culprit of dulling your knife. Use wood. End  grain wood is especially good. Plastic can be fine too, but certainly not glass,  granite or bamboo. 

• The edge of your knife works best sliding forwards or backwards. Scraping the  knife edge sideways will dull or damage the edge. Instead, use the spine of the knife to move foods across the cutting board. Do not twist the edge or pry with the edge, this is the worst screwdriver you ever bought and these motions will certainly  damage the edge. Listen to the knife! If you can hear the edge making a “tink”  sound on the cutting board, change what you are doing.  

CLEANING  

• After use, wash the knife by hand with regular dish soap, rinse with hot water  and dry by hand immediately. Dishwashers are very bad for knives.  

• Wood handles may dry out over time and exposure to water. Simply treat them  with some food safe wax.

STORING  

• Protect the edge for your safety and to avoid edge damage. A simple blade cover  will do the trick if you keep knives in a drawer or in a travel case.  

• The convenient wall magnet made with wood is a great way to show off your knives.  Be sure to put it back spine first, then roll it onto the blade face. This will keep the  edge from contacting the wood first.  

• The good ol’ counter top block can keep knives at the ready and protected, so  can drawer inserts. Whatever the method, it should keep the edge from touching  anything else. 

SKU: MASV1TSWE130KSA

Shipping and Returns

We aim to ship your order within 1 business day at Knifewear, if there is a hold up, we'll aim to let you know and give you a timeline.

We offer $3 shipping on orders over $100* anywhere in Canada and $200* to customers in the USA. We ship worldwide, and offer up to the minute rates from our shipping partner DHL.

*Konro Grills and some other larger items are excluded from the free shipping offer.

How do I make a return on an online order?
No worries, we've got you sorted. Head over to https://knifewear.mom/returns and follow the prompts. 

Can I pick up my order Curbside / At the store?
Absolutely, as long as all the items you are looking for are in stock at the location you want to pickup from, you'll be able to select that at the checkout. If one or more items aren't at your preferred location we are happy to ship it to you. 

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Overall rating: 4.92 / 5 from 25 reviews.

AI Generated Review Summary

The Masutani VG1 Tsuchime Western Ko-Santoku 130mm knife is praised for its perfect size and suitability for various cutting tasks. It offers a well-balanced feel and is accessible to both professionals and home cooks.

Summary topics

  • Knife Size: 24%
  • Cutting Performance: 77%

Review topics: ["size","weight","fit","handle","looks","finish","staff","gift","service","use","knife","steel","cuts","blade","hands"].

Review highlights

  • "However, my wife loves the size and height for her hands and this is now her favourite knife." — Gregory L.
  • "The size and shape of the knife and its light weight are ideal for small detailed cutting and chopping jobs." — Brian K.
  • "Great little knife! Looks beautiful!" — Nolan H.

Reviews

Fantastic knife

"This knife has been a game changer in my kitchen. The quality and compact size make it a dream to work with. The finish and red handle is beautiful though I wish I had gotten the blue."

— Ehis M. (5/5)

Masutani Vg1

"This knife is perfect for slicing meat and vegetables. It is easy to hold. Your hand does not get tired. Blade very sharp. It is a great kitchen knife."

— Colin C. (5/5)

Makes a great gift

"Offered this knife to my friend. He got to handle a selection of paring knives in his hands before chosing this one. He is very satisfied with the fit and the quality of the blade. Knife handle exists in 2 colours (redish and dark bluish)."

— Virginie T. (5/5)

Great small knife!

"Just bought this for my birthday to complement a "reasonably good" full size Santuko and a Chef's Knife I already own. I also had a cheap knife set for years and noticed that a small Santoku was probably the knife I used the most. So, wanting to upgrade I researched options and instead of ordering a new set from amazon or so I figured I'd rather just replace the two knives I actually use and throw out the rest. Staff at the store in Ottawa was amazing and very helpful and the knife itself is great! Being supposedly an "entry level" it is incredibly (almost scary) sharp, looks beautiful, and feels great to use! And instant favorite!"

— Nikolas (5/5)

Great little knife! Looks beautiful!

"Bought this as a gift for my in-laws. They love it! Great size! Good hight. Great weight. Easy to take care of with it being stainless steel. Cuts like a dream! The red handle is cool too!"

— Nolan H. (5/5)

The knife my wife didn’t know she needed

"I bought this knife with my wife’s smaller hands in mind after noticing she usually picked the smaller of our German knives when cooking. The fit and finish are quite a bit better than what I expected at this price point. I did round the very sharp heel off a little after trying to choke up on the knife the fist time I held it. The VG1 steel is as good as you get at this price range, though you can pay more for better steels. It came very sharp and VG1 is an easy steel to sharpen and taking small chips out with a loaded strop is a piece of cake. I also picked this steel due to my wife not always cleaning her cutlery immediately after use and so far no signs of corrosion. You will notice the benefits of the thinner blade geometry, especially if you’re coming from thicker western style knives. I wear a large to extra large glove and wear a 12 1/2 wedding ring. This knife is too small and short for my chunky fingers. However, my wife loves the size and height for her hands and this is now her favourite knife. She is a small-medium glove with average fingers wearing a size 6 1/2 wedding ring. I would say if you have large size hands don’t expect this to be a comfortable knife for big jobs or long use. I use it exclusively for cutting a few items at a time with a small cutting board to reduce clean up. My wife however notices having more room to work when prepping food due to its smaller size. We would replace this knife in a second if something happened to it."

— Gregory L. (5/5)

I Love my new knife!

"I Love my new knife! It is smaller than my other knife "Fujimoto Nashji" , and so it is much easier to handle. Thanks for showing me my new knife ."

— Sharron C. (5/5)

My "Go-To Knife"

"I wanted a comfortable, and sharp knife for my everyday cooking, and I found it! It's exactly what I've wanting for a long time. It's the perfect size too, plus all the information and tutorial I received in the store was so valuable."

— Shelly U. (5/5)

Great knife; great service

"Not just a great knife, but great friendly helpful service as well. WASN'T SURE WHAT i WANTED AND THE STAFF SPENT LOTS OF TIME SHOWING ME MANY OPTIONS AND EXPLAINING THE PROS AND CONS OF EACH. The size and shape of the knife and its light weight are ideal for small detailed cutting and chopping jobs. Sharpest knife I've ever owned."

— Brian K. (5/5)

Wow

"Wow"

— daniel g. (5/5)

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