Features:

  • The 5.5" Santoku is an all-purpose knife for everyday slicing, dicing and mincing
  • A great first-time introduction to using a Kyocera ceramic knife in the kitchen, especially for the beginning home cook
  • Ceramic blades are made from Kyocera's proprietary zirconia material produced in Japan for exceptional quality and beauty
  • Ultra-sharp, pure advanced ceramic blades will maintain their edge up to 10x longer than steel blades
  • Lightweight and easy to clean, the blades will not brown food, are rust-proof and resistant to acids
  • Ideal for slicing fruits, vegetables and boneless meats, not to be used on hard or frozen foods
A favorite!

I have another brand of ceramic knife that has held up over the years but is now starting to show a few chips and the handle is cracking. I ended up buying the Kyocera and I am in love with it. It feels MUCH sharper than my other knife (Even when it was brand new). It is pretty light weight but don't let that fool you! It is sharp and tough. I highly recommend buying the sheath for it to keep it safe in the drawer. I also hand wash this knife ONLY. No dishwasher for this one. I think the heat from the water started cracking the handle on my previous knife. Be careful! SHARP!

Good if you need a lightweight knife.

I can see how some people would hate this knife, but I personally love it. It is very light but certainly very fragile as well, the blade is very thin. Honestly, I haven't found anything better to chop my vegetables, but I would not cut meat with it. It is also a white blade, which can tend to stain if you do not rinse immediately after touching tomato sauce or other staining food. I bought a second one for my dad.

My favorite knife

If you've never used a ceramic knife before, I highly recommend starting here. It's the perfect introduction to the wonderful world of ceramic cutlery, and although I own the lethal-looking Kyocera Advanced Ceramic Revolution Series 7-inch Professional Chef's Knife, Black Blade as well, I find myself reaching for the Santoku 99% of the time. Why? It's the perfect size and shape for a vegetarian kitchen. The handle is supremely ergonomic (if somewhat slippery when wet), and the blade is perfectly balanced. Don't believe the hype about the merits of hulking German steel blades—if you cook a lot, you want something light and fast that won't wear out your tendons chopping parsley. The experience of cutting with this knife is totally unlike using steel. You place the blade against something, apply the slightest whisper of pressure, and suddenly the blade has gone through that something and is resting on the cutting board, awaiting your next command. It's almost spooky how sharp this thing is, but the superb handle design and blade shape never make it feel unsafe. And it seems to stay sharp indefinitely. I got mine in December of 2013, and aside from some small and entirely cosmetic nicks in the blade, the knife still performs like it did when new. If and when you manage to wear the blade out, you can mail it to Kyocera for free resharpening. Between this and the Kyocera Advanced Ceramic Revolution Series 3-inch Paring Knife with Red Handle, White Blade, you can glide through 90% of all prep. I'd recommend keeping a cheap cleaver on hand for grittier work like cutting squash and mashing garlic, but for almost everything else, the Santoku is downright surgical perfection.

Scary sharp knife.

My first cutting task with this knife was slicing a sweet potato. I thought, "No big deal." This felt the same as one of my steel serrated knives, which is geting slightly dull. Then I sliced a carrot and I was amazed. I just slid the knife through the carrot, with very little effort. The slices were so thin they were clinging to the side of the blade. Next up was raw chicken breasts. With just a little pressure, the Kyocera ceramic knife made some really deep cuts in the chicken. This is when I realized I would always have to be alert when using this knife. I have heard it said that the most dangerous knife is a dull knife. The logic behind this is that you need to use more force with a dull knife and there is a greater possibility of the knife slipping and going somewhere unexpected (like into your hand or your leg). If this is true, then this is a really safe knife. This ceramic knife has good balance, is really light and has a very comfortable handle. It will never rust. If your cutting needs include twisting, prying and chopping, then a ceramic knife is a bad choice. It is very strong for slicing, but any sideways torgue applied to the blade my cause it to chip or break. You definitely don't want to drop this knife because it will most likely be damaged. I bought the Kyocera paring knife and it is just as outstanding as this larger Santoku knife.

Sharp but delicate knife

Update: I've had this knife for almost a year and the sharpness is still extremely sharp! No dulling and I've never had to send the knife in for sharpening. It still gets used daily in the kitchen, from boneless meat to vegetables and fruit. I love it so much because there's so little maintenance required to keep the blade sharp (just don't cut bones). I'm looking forward to buying a Chef's version of the Kyocera ceramic knives because I love this santoku knife so much! As a big fan of steel knives I was very surprised with the sharpness of this knife. I mainly use this knife for cutting vegetables and fruit. The knife itself is a great addition to any kitchen. I prefer the black blade to the white blade and bought the knife based on aesthetic preferences, but the black blade is made from black zirconium oxide and offers extra durability and also goes through an extra firing process according to Kyocera's website, so that was a plus when purchasing the knife. First off, the knife is very light and the blade is not at all heavy. For people who use steel knives on a daily basis this may take some time getting used to. The knife does an excellent job cutting through vegetables and fruits; however, I don't recommend using it for meat with bones, tough meat, or anything hard. I have used the knife to cut chicken breasts and thighs and cut thin slices of steak just fine. To prevent chipping I hand wash the knife and lay it on a microfiber cloth to dry. Don't put it in the dishwasher or it'll damage the knife. This is a great ceramic knife for anyone looking for their first ceramic or another ceramic for their knife collection. I use the knife on a daily basis in conjunction with my steel knives, and so far my knife hasn't chipped yet and has held its edge well. My only gripe is that the blade is brittle and fragile compared to steel knives.

Yes, feel the difference!

Excellent feel. I had no prior experience with ceramic knives but read up on what makes them great as well as what manufacturer is considered the best. Kyocera did an amazing job here. It took a little while to adjust to NOT applying as much pressure & that there is no portion of the blade that will fold/roll over time. This, like other ceramic knives, are made for straight cutting through foods that don’t require wedging and flexing to get it done. So fruits, veggies, sandwiches, etc are great. Not for having to carve meat where forcing the blade to twist at any angle is needed where it gets tough. It works well for me. And I’ve been able to replace other knives with this one knife. Great choice. This knife is ridiculously light and balanced! Great shipping, too.

Love the knife! Fear the knife!

I love this knife. But I just found out the hard way that this thing goes through fingernails just about as easily as anything else. I had been using my previous knife, also a Kyocera ceramic, for almost 20 years now. Never broke in all that time, except for the pointed tip, which I broke off in the first year or two (so I actually like that this one comes pre-rounded on the tip). I also never sharpened it, except once or twice with a simple manual sharpening tool, which I'm no good at using. So that knife had accumulated plenty of tiny chips etc (its edge is quite ragged if you look close), and it had gotten pretty dull, relatively speaking (though was still quite useable). Unfortunately, I also apparently learned a very bad habit in recent years with this knife, letting it bounce off my fingernail if I accidentally got too close. Well, the other night, I had the "perfect storm," using my new knife: 1. I had not yet gained sufficient respect for / fear of the sharpness; 2. I was cutting some kale leaves into very small pieces, bunching them up with my fingertips and cutting very close; and 3. I was in a hurry. Ugh. I hit my nail pretty close to the cuticle, and the slice kept going almost half the length from there to my fingertip. I considered going to the emergency room, but I've had enough experience to know that it wasn't *that* bad, and an ER would really just patch it up the same way I could at home, only with a lot more waiting. So I kept direct pressure on it until the bleeding was almost gone (bleeding is good because it pushes out any bacteria), and then out came the superglue. That worked overnight, and since then I've been adding layers of liquid bandage, and keeping it dry as possible, and so far so good. So the moral of the story is: for super-sharp knives such as this, be afraid! Be very afraid! Then it'll work fine for ya'.

... knife along with a paring knife and they are wonderful! We only cut fruit and veggies with them

We ordered this knife along with a paring knife and they are wonderful! We only cut fruit and veggies with them, and they are super SHARP! I highly recommend pairing your cermaic knife with something like this: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B079ZQTWMG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 We have one and it seriously cut the time down on pico de gallo and other recipes that require a lot of chopping/dicing. We also love how beautiful these knives are! Highly recommend!

SHARPNESS: Not as long as I thought.

When I first received this knife, it was an awesome experience. It's so light and can simply slices through everything so easily. I bought a Wustoff at the same time to cut stuff like meat. This knife outperforms this knife because it's so much lighter. Whether it's sharper, that's really hard to tell when they are both new. Based upon the reviews, we made sure to know use the knife for anything that might break the edge like frozen food or bone. We did use this everyday cooking for a family of 4. So, it was used a lot. We loved it. But based on the reviews here, I had thought that this cermamic knife would stay relatively sharp after a year or two. For us, this was far from true. About 6-8 months after, the knife got much duller. Noticeably duller. Maybe I was expecting too much given the effusive reviews here? Perhaps...but I just want to tell people who are reading this, don't expect that the knife will stay sharp for years. We did get a Kyocera knife sharpener but of course, this doesn't replicate the sharpness that came out of the box. Would I buy this knife again? YES! Even though it didn't last as long as I thought, it still does last longer than metal knives and the sharpness is pretty amazing. I'm not holding my overexpections against the knife. *If this review was helpful, please click that it was helpful. (I'd like to know if my reviews help anyone.)

Review 2-1/2 years later

I love this knife!! I've been preparing meals for many, many, many years and have never had a knife this great. I've been using it almost daily for the past 2-1/2 years and it has remained sharp as a razor. It is easy to use, the weight is good, perfect size and the blade is phenomenally thin and sharp. I can slice the thinnest slices ever. It is great on meats, fruits and vegetables (even fresh tomatoes) and has done a beautiful job on anything I slice, chop, peel, etc. Now, here is the unbelievable part. A couple weeks ago, I dropped it on my ceramic kitchen floor and it broke in half. I was desolate! I remembered that there is a life-time guarantee so I wrapped it up and returned it to Kyocera, hoping, but not really believing that it could be repaired or that it would be replaced. To my utter surprise and delight, Kyocera sent me a brand new replacement. I can't say enough about how much I love this knife or how much I appreciate the company's great customer service. Now, my favorite knife is back in my Kyocera knife block along with her sister paring knife - also from Kyocera and also a great knife.

Full Reviews