[Indigo Bocho] Kurouchi Santoku

• Type: Santoku
• Steel: Aogami / Shirogami carbon steel (prone to rust)
• Blade length: 18cm
• Blade grind: Double bevel (right- or left-handed)
• Handle wood: Hiba (Japanese cypress)
• Handle finish: Indigo dyed with waterproof coating
• Weight: approx. 150g
• Made in: Japan (Osaka + Tokushima)

About the Santoku

The santoku is the everyday knife in most Japanese homes.

Its name means "three virtues" — meat, fish and vegetables — and because it handles all three, it is often simply called an all-purpose knife.

Its blade is deeper than a petty or a gyuto for a reason: when you cut something large, like a cabbage, the blade stays engaged and carries the cut all the way through.

If this is your first Japanese knife, or you are replacing the one you reach for every day, start here.

About Indigo Bocho

Indigo dyeing has been part of everyday life in Japan for centuries, valued for the antibacterial and deodorizing qualities long attributed to it. The Indigo Bocho brings that craft to a kitchen knife, so that how a knife performs and how it looks are settled together. Each one joins Sakai bladesmithing, an Osaka tradition, to the indigo dyeing rooted in the history of Tokushima. Putting artisans from different regions and different disciplines on the same object is the whole point: each craft is worth more for standing next to the other. There is a wider aim as well — one product that supports several craft regions at once, and helps keep Japan's traditional skills in working use. We hope you enjoy what the two crafts make together.