Best Guaranteed Hatsukokoro Ginyo Santoku

First Impressions

The Ginyo is an excellent knife, Yauji Yoshihiro makes some excellent blades under his own brand and this collaboration with Hatsukokoro boasts an impressively finished edge right out of the box and a bold, fairly weighty and robust blade.

Beauty

Definitely an understated knife, the tsuchime marks are subtle as is the damascus finish but look a little closer and there’s plenty of depth there.

In Hand

Unquestionably the first thing we noticed picking up the Ginyo is that it feels like a heavier knife. Not necessarily a “heavyweight” but the entire range is definitely a little taller, thicker and has a distinct feeling of weight even with the traditional lightweight wa handles.

It feels robust, solid and a no-nonsense knife but with the excellent edge finish it glides through food smoothly.

Durability

This is a knife designed to be robust and the Silver 3 core clad in stainless holds is a becoming a more common combination for the edge retention quality and ease of care.The 60-61 HRC gives you a bit flexibility you don’t get with a higher hardness.

Ease of Care

You’ll find Silver 3 holds an edge well and is generally easy to sharpen so just follow our normal care instructions and we’d suggest checking out a knife care kit for longer term maintenance.

Our Verdict

Yauji Yoshihiro and Hatsukokoro have created a collection here for those who are seeking a robust and easy to look after knife with a feeling of a little more weight in hand but retaining an excellent edge and balance.