Nigara Hamono has a reputation for the absolute highest quality and the level of expertise and skill these craftsmen posses is not often found. The company is led by the master blacksmith by the name of Tsuyoshi Yoshizawa and every knife they make is forged by hand with the utmost care and attention to detail and quality. This combined, helps create knives made to last for years to come. Hand-crafted using VG10 steel and with perfectly crafted custom and wood handles the fit and finish of Nigara knives are second to none.

VG10 is a great type of stainless steel for kitchen knives and is very common. Typically, these knives have an HRC between 60 and 61, good edge retention, and excellent corrosion resistance. Damascus-style knives often use VG-10 as the core, with Damascus steel wrapped around them. VG-10 is a grade of Japanese stainless steel primarily focused on cutlery. The name stands for V Gold 10, where "gold" refers to quality. The approximate content is 1% carbon, 1-3% vanadium, 14.5%-15.5% chromium, 0.9-1.2% molybdenum, 1.3-1.5% cobalt, 0.5% manganese, and 0.03% phosphorus.

The Gyuto meaning is “Cow sword” in Japan as gyu means “Beef” and to means “Sword” this is also known as a Chef’s knife or French knife. It is the one and first knife all chef’s/cooks needs in their kitchen. When buying your first gyuto you have to consider how and what will be built around your first knife as it will do the majority of the work in your kitchen. 

Gyutos like chef’s knives go from 150mm up to 370mm which is massive, when starting out go for something in the range of 180mm to 210mm depending on the size of your hands. Later you can go for a larger chef’s knife like a 260mm to 280mm which can be used for larger jobs like cabbages, large dicing and meat cuts like beef sirloins and fillets.

Weight: 152g

Handle Material: Ebony mono

Handle Length: 135mm (5.3')

Blade Length: 215mm (8.4)

Blade Depth: 49mm

Thickness at spine: 1.4mm

Thickness at tip: 0.2mm

Cutting Edge: 50/50

Blade Material: Damascus Vg10

Hardness (Rockwell scale): 60-61