This Kasumi Damascus 5" Santoku chops, slices and dices meats and vegetables with complete ease. Use it for everything, from slicing sushi to butterflying chicken breasts. Its sharp straight-edge blade cuts smoothly and the wide part of the blade is for easy transfer of ingredients. The main cutting blade of KASUMI knives is made of VG-10 high carbon stainless steel that has been developed especially for knives. The blades are hardened to Rockwell C59-60 degrees, and therefore, keep a sharper cutting edge longer than any other knives. On both sides of the main cutting blade, fine damascus stainless steel pattern is clad. The KASUMI pattern that you see on both sides of the knives is the result of repeated folding and forging of fine stainless steel into multiple layers. Each knife is carefully finished throughout each step of the manufacturing process by the hands of skilled craftsmen. The beauty of the KASUMI pattern together with the strong black laminated wooden handles makes these knives look graceful, yet strong, and good for any style of cooking.