Fujiwara Maboroshi Santoku 165mm

The Maboroshi no Meito, which translates to ‘Visionary Sword Celebrated in Victory,’ is made from Shirogami steel, and while it requires care to avoid rust, it gets sharper than just about anything else.

Fujiwara is one of the most revered names in the world of Japanese knives. The Fujiwara family started as blacksmiths in 1870, first forging farm tools, then swords. Many blacksmiths these days make a blade with a carbon steel core laminated with an outer layer of stainless steel for a high-performance knife with lower maintenance; this guy was one of the first to develop this technique. In addition to laminating his own steel, he pushes his steel to its absolute limit of hardness. This creates a blade that requires respect and care but stays sharp for a ridiculously long time. 

Fujiwara-san knows that chefs hold their knives by the blade in a ‘pinch-grip,’ so he created an iconic notch at the back of the knife for one’s index or middle finger to rest in. 

About the shape This is also a multi purpose knife, but with a slight vegetable bias. Santoku means ‘Three Virtues’ or ‘To solve Three Problems’. The virtues or problems are slicing, dicing and mincing. Santoku is usually found in 160mm – 190mm lengths. These are more and more popular in Western kitchens due to the unique shape and smaller easy to handle size.