Masutani | SKU: MASU_VGDA_SA135_BLK

Masutani Sairyu VG10 Damascus Small Santoku 135mm Western Handle

Name: VG10 Steel
Brand: ["Takefu Special Steel, Japan"]

$2,974.00

Handle Color

Mahogany Black Blue

Pickup available at Crows Nest

Usually ready in 24 hours

Add a saya or K&S Knife Roll to receive $20 bundle discount!

	Masutani Sairyu VG10 Western
	Santoku
Weight	105 g \| 3.7 oz
Edge Length	131 mm \| 5 5/32″
Heel Height	36 mm \| 1 27/64″
Width @ Heel	0.9 mm \| 1/32″
Width @ Mid	0.9 mm \| 1/32″
Width @ 1cm from Tip	0.8 mm \| 1/32″
Steel	VG10 \| Stainless
Blade Construction	Sanmai - Stainless Damascus Clad
Hardness (HRC)	59 - 61
Surface Finish	Migaki
Handle	Western Pakka Wood with Bolster
Region	Echizen
Best for	First-timers Pro chefs Students

Free shipping for knives over AU$200 Australia wide.
World-wide shipping via DHL Express, 3 to 5 days.

The Masutani Hamono "Sairyu VG10" series offers an exceptional balance of performance, beauty, and value. Crafted with VG10 steel, a state-of-the-art cutlery material known for its sharpness and durability, these knives provide outstanding edge retention and ease of maintenance, making them perfect for both home cooks and professional chefs.

The blade showcases a stunning Damascus pattern, adding visual appeal to its impressive cutting performance. Each knife in the Sairyu series is designed with a Western-style handle that is incredibly light and comfortable, ensuring a balanced and effortless grip even during extended use.

What truly sets the Masutani Hamono Sairyu VG10 series apart is its exceptional value. With a combination of high-quality materials, beautiful craftsmanship, and thoughtful design, these knives are perfect for household use but also hold up to the rigorous demands of professional kitchens.

Pros	Cons
Budget friendly Excellent performance Great OOTB	Fit and finish can be improved

Care Instruction

Don't cut hard things! Japanese knives are brittle so bone hacking is a NO NO!
Wash with neutral detergent after use, and wipe dry;
Please don't wash knife with dishwasher, it will damage the wood handle;
Be careful not to leave the knife close to a heat source for a long time;
It is a lot more dangerous to cut with a blunt knife than a sharp knife!
It is best to sharpen a Japanese knife regularly on a waterstone.

Masutani

Masutani Hamono — Echizen Performance Without the Premium

Masutani Hamono, leveraging both VG-1 and VG-10 steel, has established itself within the competitive sphere of Japanese knife-making by offering a cutting feel comparable to premium Echizen brands such as Kurosaki and Takamura. This alignment in performance with high-end brands, despite their more accessible price point, positions Masutani knives as exceptional within their category. Their craftsmanship ensures a blend of traditional skill and modern technology, making Masutani knives highly regarded for their sharpness and durability, leading the way in value-for-money within the Japanese knife market.

Masutani Hamono, nestled in the historic knife-making region of Echizen, Japan, has carved a niche for itself by merging traditional craftsmanship with modern innovations. Utilizing high-quality VG-1 and VG-10 steels, Masutani creates knives that are not only durable and sharp but also provide a cutting experience comparable to the much-admired Echizen brands like Kurosaki and Takamura. This blend of heritage and innovation allows Masutani knives to stand out in the market, offering unparalleled value within their price range.

The company’s dedication to excellence is evident in every knife produced, ensuring each piece embodies the perfect balance between age-old techniques and cutting-edge steel technology. As a result, Masutani knives are celebrated for their exceptional performance and affordability, appealing to a wide range of users from professional chefs to culinary enthusiasts. This reputation for quality, coupled with a cutting feel reminiscent of more premium brands, positions Masutani as a leading choice for those seeking the best Japanese knives without the premium price tag.

“Echizen's quiet overachiever — premium cutting feel at an honest price, from the brother forge of Ryusen.”

Est. 1974 | 昭和49年

Known for Affordable high-performance stainless knives, excellent grinding and OOTB sharpness

Website masutani-hamono.shop Read more about Masutani

Profile

Santoku

The Santoku knife, embodying the meaning "three uses," is a cornerstone in Japanese kitchens, adept at slicing, dicing, and mincing. Esteemed for its versatility, it features a blade length typically between 15cm and 20cm (6 to 8 inches), catering to a wide array of culinary tasks. Distinguished by its less pointy tip compared to the Gyuto, the Santoku boasts a unique profile that contributes to its functionality and popularity. Its design is tailored to provide ease and efficiency in preparation, also because of its less aggressive prrofile, making it a preferred choice for home cooks.

Compare with

VG10

—

15.0% 11.3% 7.5% 3.8% 0

1.0%

15.0%

0.25%

1.0%

1.55%

C — Carbon Cr — Chromium V — Vanadium Mo — Molybdenum Co — Cobalt

Hardness 59–61 HRC

555759616365+

Steel

VG10

Manufacturer
- Takefu Special Steel, Japan
Nature Stainless
Hardness59–61 HRC

Takefu VG10, is a high-end stainless steel celebrated for its exceptional edge retention and sharpness. It is a popular choice among Japanese kitchen knife makers and widely used in various types of knives, including kitchen knives, folders, and fixed blades.

VG10 achieves a hardness of around 60-61 HRC, with some makers pushing it to 62 HRC, ensuring good edge holding and stain resistance. The steel's composition includes 15% chromium (Cr) for corrosion resistance, 1% molybdenum (Mo), and 1.5% cobalt (Co) for matrix strengthening, leading to high hardness and durability. The addition of vanadium (V) refines its microstructure and, along with Cr and Mo, produces hard carbides that enhance wear resistance. VG10 is easy to sharpen, has good machinability, and supports secondary hardening with high-temperature tempering, making it suitable for blades that may undergo surface coating treatments up to about 450℃. Its well-rounded attributes make VG10 steel highly versatile, performing excellently in a range of applications from kitchen and general-purpose knives to machine blades.

Construction

Sanmai - Stainless Damascus Clad

Sanmai(Three-Piece) is a common construction for double bevel knives where two pieces of softer cladding steel are forgewelded to each side of a harder core steel. The harder but more brittle core steel will form the hard cutting edge after heat treating, and the softer cladding will support the core to increase the overall strength of the blade.

Damascus Sanmai utilize damascus steel as the cladding material for the Sanmai construction, which adds aesthetic feature to the blade. On the Kitchen knives with stainless core steel, the damascus cladding will be stainless, this means they will also protect the carbon/semi-stainless core from rusting/discolouration.

The soft cladding enables the thinning process to be a lot easier than a honyaki or monosteel construction. However, when the cladding is made of damascus, whether etched, polished or mirror polished, the thinning process will take a toll on the cladding, meaning the damascus won't look the same as when it was taken out of the box.

Finish

Migaki

"Migaki" means "polished" or "shined" in Japanese, The term "Migaki finish" in the context of Japanese kitchen knives indeed does not exclusively refer to a mirror polish but encompasses a broader range of polished finishes that can vary from semi-gloss to a more refined, subtle sheen, rather than a highly reflective surface. The primary goal of a Migaki finish is to enhance the knife's functionality and aesthetic appeal, focusing on a smooth finish that improves resistance to corrosion and minimizes drag during cutting, rather than achieving a purely mirror-like appearance.

Handle

Handle Specs

Profile Western with bolster
Material
- Pakka Wood

Western Pakka Wood handle is the common choice for entery level knives, in some cases, they will be made with bolster that is welded to the blade. The Pakka wood created by laminate wood with resin, creating a dense material that can have layers of different color. Compared with natural timber, this engineered wood is harder and absorb less water, in addition, the low cost of production makes it ideal of grip of entry level knife.

	Measurements
Weight	101 g
Total Length	247 mm
Tip to Heel Length	132 mm
Blade Height at Heel	36.5 mm
Width of Spine Above Heel	1.6 mm
Width of Spine at Middle of Blade	1.6 mm
Width of Spine at about 1cm From the Tip	1.2 mm
Steel	VG10 stainless core with stainless damascus cladding
Hardness	HRC 60
Handle Design	Western pakkawood handle

Masutani Sairyu VG10 Damascus Small Santoku 135mm Western Handle