CHEF KNIFE 8" Japanese Damascus Stainless Steel, High Carbon Sharp Kitchen Cutlery, Light & Ergonomic Gyuto

Simply put, I would like a lot of people to buy this knife so that I can get a matching paring knife. I cook for a living and am an avid camper so I know a good tool when I hold one and this knife delivers. When I bought mine a couple months ago, Okami knives only offered the 8 inch version. If they expand their offerings and continue to offer such rock bottom introductory prices I forsee my entire knife roll consisting of Okami knives. Pros: -Nice looking knife, simple and elegant, this is sure to catch the eye of whomever is watching. Comes in a spiffy box with a tip guard as well. -Extremely light. Your wrist will never get tired manipulating this knife for hours. -Wicked sharp out of the box. My roommate gave it the ultimate out of the box sharp test. He used the edge of this knife to peel back the outer layer of the epidermis on his left thumb without any pain or disturbing the subcutaneous layers. -High quality super hard steel (60-62 ish). Edge retention is amazing. I've been using mine daily at work and at home for three months. Without any maintenance on the edge it is still sharp enough to shave with. -Pakka wood handle is AWESOME. My favorite feature. I knew pakka wood was a quality construction material before I purchased this knife, but I am still blown away by how nice the grip feels. It just feels pleasurable in the hand, plus I have held it while both hand and handle were slick with myoglobin and grip was still super secure. -Well balanced -Price is rediculously good. If I made this knife I would charge $200 for it, but at the time of posting this review it is still selling for $90. I understand 90 dollars is not a small amount of money, but if you like to cook you are going to be using this knife every day. 90$ for something that gets daily use for a decade+ is a sensible investment. Cons -A little on the small side. I have the 8 inch version and the blade is a little smaller than 8 inches. I hold kitchen knives with a modified pinch grip and if I rest this knife on the cutting board two of my knuckles are touching as well. One of my coworkers who has very large hands (he's a very large man) can't use this knife for chopping. Definitely more suited for Japanese cutting than French style. -Half tang. I don't think this is a downer because it is so well constructed, but I know it will turn some people off. -Made in China. Same story as above, but their will be individuals who see that and say "Nope, not worth risking." -Super hard steel means this knife will carve through anything it is meant to cut like it's nothing. It also means if you hit a bone or aren't using a proper cutting board, or just use the knife on something hard, the knife is going to chip. I actually managed to damage my knife. I bumped it and it fell from my station about three feet to the tiled floor. Luckily the teensy-weensy little tiny chip that came off was on the spine so the structural integrity of the knife is still sound. If it had been on the blade edge (even as small a nick as it was) I would have had to pay a visit to the knife doctor and his grinder. -Light weight will catch some cooks off guard. If you are used to a big honkin' stainless steel knife that costs 20$ this will take some getting used to. With a heavy knife you sort of set it on it's course and let the wieght of the blade carry through the slice. Try that with this knife and you are going to have some weird slices. Like I said at the beginning, I hope Okami keeps making more products, because this one is awesome. I also think a t-shirt with the wolf head logo would look pretty snazzy if they ever wanted to offer one of those.

First off, this is my first quality knife. I've been working on my home cooking craft as a hobby for the past 10 years and decided it was time to have a professional level knife. The Okami was, in my opinion, the best quality for the price and level of cooking I do. I was not left wanting, this knife is great. It was sharp right out the box and perfect with a few passes over the 6000 stone. I took quite a while to look over many, many knives, reading reviews, product tests, customer comments, and watching You Tube videos. In the end the Okami was a bit of an unknown, but it had all of the qualities the more expensive competition was flaunting as must haves. As far as this particular knife is concerned, the balance is wonderful, the handle fits into my hand perfectly with plenty of room to vary grips for different cuts, the blade has a nice thin kerf, and of course, the knife is just gorgeous to boot. In the end this was was a great choice and I will be promptly ordering the 6" Utility knife and looking forward to Okami's next offering. Addition 6/30/2015: I received my 6" a couple days ago and it is an equally fantastic knife. Great for miscellaneous tasks and fruit/vege slicing. Great work Okami. Update 08/10/2016 : I just purchased and received my 7" Doshi Santoku knife and it is an amazing knife. Razor sharp as the other Okami knives right out of the box. The balance is very nice, almost better than my Nakama by Okami, but not quite (the Nakama is by far and above the best knife I've ever used). If you are looking for great value and professional results, you need to look no further than Okami. They have a great, quality product, and they have super customer service, so if for some reason you are not in love with a knife, they make it right and are able to respond to you right away. Heck, they email you almost as soon as you buy a knife to let you know that! Still waiting to purchase the Paring knife, but it will be next and I am confident it will be just as good! Thanks Okami, Great Work!!

I gave this knife to my wife for her birthday. She'll leave her own review. Here's mine. This knife is balanced perfectly. It's slightly forward balance allows it to do all the work. I own a popular Santoku that has a very light blade which makes it difficult to use in comparison. This Okami knife is a dream to use. I find that my wife does a lot more of the knife work in the kitchen since I gave this to her. The workmanship of this knife is stunning to say the least. The blade is a work of art and came sharper than any other knife I own. It's hair splitting sharp. The handle if beautiful and feels very nice in the hand. There's a grain to it that allows for a nice grip. I buy nice knives and can honestly say that if I saw this knife at a store and was able to hold it in my hand, I'd have paid twice as much money for it. It's that nice. If you're in the market for an 8 inch chefs knife, buy this and forget about the Shun. This is a keeper for life. Update 07/13/15 - when I saw that Okami was offering a 6 inch more or less pairing knife, I jumped on it. I hate 3 1/2 inch pairing knives for anything but slicing strawberries. This 6 inch is so useful to me. I cored AND sliced a tomato tonight with it.. It's just a nice size for my small work. This truly is a big pairing knife. The heel's not taller like a chef yet a slightly taller heel than my smaller pairing knives (which are now being donated). The quality and craftsmanship is top notch, just like the chefs knife. I'm so glad I found this. My knife buying days are over. I wish Oakmi the best and can highly recommend their knives.

Yes, this knife is made in China, using layered Japanese VG-10 steel. The description only says it's made of Japanese steel, careful to avoid saying made IN Japan. I suppose it is a bit of obfuscation as it clearly does not state where it is made. Even the name Okami sounds vaguely Japanese. Only when you receive the knife does the box clearly states "Made in PRC" (Peoples Republic of China). I knew it was too good of a price to be made in Japan. Despite the initial misgivings, I must admit the overall build quality in terms of fit and finish is excellent. While not exactly Seki City or Solingen, I do not regret purchasing this knife, knowing now that it is made in China. My brother owns a sushi restaurant and I gave him this knife as a birthday gift. He was very impressed by the workmanship, how sharp it took an edge and how well it cut. When he found out how much it cost, nearly 1/2 the price of Shun Classic, he was even more impressed. As for durability, he will let me know it performs over long haul and I will update this review accordingly.

this is an excellent quality knife, especially considering it's price. I would recommend this any day over the "classic" line of the famous "S" brand of knives, just for sheer quality, much less much better value. Very good fit and finish, good ergonomics, good balance, good blade profile (not too much or too little "belly"). I purposely took it in to work for a week, and purposely did over a day of prep just to try this knife out. It held up very admirably to the job through very tough veggies. The handle was well shaped and very slip resistant even when there was blood to deal with. The VG 10 core stood up well. I have honed it on a zirconium carbide hone, but haven't needed to sharpen it yet. We hand sharpen our knives on water stones. I have dozens of other VG10 core knives and so far, as expected, it has exhibited similar edge retention as other VG10 core knives. By now, with a "german steel" knife (whose hardness usually is near about 56 on the Rockwell scale), I would have already had to sharpen it properly (not just hone it). One small issue for home users, and this is NOT a bad thing. The steel in the core of this knife is harder (probably about 61 Rockwell) than most home sharpening steels (about 58-60). You might want to get a cheap 15-20 dollar GERAMIC "sharpening steel" (really a hone) just to touch it up every now and then. This knife is better steel than a regular "sharpening steel" so that one you got as part of the set of knives you have won't work too well just throw it out because the ceramic hone will also do a better job on your other knives as well The retailer got the item to me quickly. It was in a nice magnetic closing box and included a nice small cloth with their logo to wipe down the blade. The cloth will probably get lost, but it was a nice attention to detail and a sign of confidence in the mindfulness of it's construction. Even though I sample knives from some of the German mfgrs, I paid retail for this knife and consider it money well spent.

This knife is by FAR the best! Our family will use a knife until it is so very dull, so needless to say we were in desperate need of an updated one. We have had great success when using the Okami Chef Knife with absolutely everything! It arrives in its very own, nice storage case and has a protective case. The knife was constructed very well and has some weight to it. It has cut everything with perfection! It slices through meats, cheeses, vegetables, etc with ease. I’m unsure If it is dishwasher safe, however, even if it is not marketed as such—it has been placed in the dishwasher a few times at my house and come out just fine. If you are looking for a well-built, strong and sharp blade that will be a fantastic addition to your kitchen, this is the knife for you!

04/05/2017 UPDATE: Still going strong! My wife's favorite kitchen knife for a great many tasks! I went to steel/hone it the other day, but it still easily shaves the hair off my arm--so why bother? I just recommended this knife to a good friend! A beautifully made, outstanding Chef's Knife in the Japanese tradition. 0urs arrived promptly, shaving-sharp, and in ostensibly flawless condition. The item was impeccably packed, and it's nicely packaged for presentation as a gift. This is a great alternative to say, a Wusthof Classic 8" Chef's Knife. My wife, having smaller hands, prefers the ergonomics of this knife. And it's an outstanding slicer! This knife just melts through onions and veggies, and the folded steel blade holds its edge very well. A few passes over a standard steel restores the edge to shaving sharpness. NOTE: "Damascus" is a loosely used term to describe a folded steel blade. This is a traditional Japanese method of producing legendary steel blades, developed independently in Japan. Damascus is the Capital City of Syria. A great bang-for-the-buck too! Yes, the knife is Chinese-made, but it's one of those Chinese-made items that's manufactured with pride--they CAN do it if they're motivated to. If this knife were fully Japanese-made, it would sell for a much higher retail price! Yes, I would recommend this product! RayB

I purchased this knife in 2017 and it’s been my all-time favorite kitchen knife. I’m heavily into cooking and am always in action. It’s a good weight and balance, it’s comfortable and stays sharp for long. After an accident, I got a chip in mine, but it still cuts better than any other of mine. I take care of it well, hand washing it after use and manually drying. It came with a box and a knife sleeve to protect both the blade and yourself for storage. When the time comes for it to retire, I plan to get the same one in its place.