A Kiritsuke is a great replacement for a gyuto/chef’s knife and has become very popular in the past few years as the drop tip tappers down to a very thin scalpel and is an aggressive work horse. They generally come in a few sizes ranging from 210mm to 240mm. Traditionally a kiritsuke is a single-beveled and combined with the rustic geometry, makes the kiritsuke look like an epic kitchen sword. This is used for slicing up large cuts of meat and fish it will give you a clean cut finish.

The Tanaka Shigeki R2 Damascus range is well regarded as it is a super hard stainless R2/SG2 core steal with a toned layered damascus finish. The blade is astonishingly sharp and beautifully made which retains an amazing edge.

Thin and light balance a little bit forward of the pinch grip, great grind back to heal, gently rack to the belly not much flat, good for glad cutting not much of a push cutter, great work horse knife and great value for money.

Weight: 173g

Handle Material: Wenge Diagonal

Handle Length: 140mm (5.5")

Blade Length: 241mm (9.4")

Blade Depth: 51mm

Thickness at spine: 2.1mm

Thickness at tip: 0.2mm

Cutting Edge: 50/50

Blade Material: Damascus R2

Hardness (Rockwell scale): 62 - 63

Layers: 33