This stunningly beautiful line of classic cutlery features the look and benefits of Damascus steel, yet without its rusting problems. The Damascus-look blade profile reduces sticking and results in less damage to the food being cut and faster prep times. A santoku is a Japanese all-purpose kitchen knife. Like a chef"™s knife, the santoku is used for just about every cutting job in the kitchen. The name means "œthree virtues."� Depending on who you ask, the name refers either to the three types of foods it works well with"”vegetables, proteins, and fruit"”or for the three types of cuts at which it excels"”slicing, dicing, and chopping. Hollow-ground indentations on the blade help reduce friction so the blade glides through the food more easily. When we first introduced the Shun Classic Hollow-Ground Santoku to the market, it was named "œKitchen Knife of the Year"� by Blade magazine.The Shun Classic Hollow-Ground Santoku is part of the Shun Classic line of tasteful and contemporary cutlery.The Shun Classic line features beautiful Damascus-clad blades and D-shaped ebony PakkaWood handles. Yet behind these handcrafted knives'' beauty is function: razor-sharp blades offering top performance. Shun''s VG-MAX steel, known for its incredible edge retention, is clad with Damascus stainless steel, then ground and bead-blasted, revealing the flowing pattern of the layered steel. The result is a line of knives that are sharp, durable, and corrosion resistant, as well as beautiful to behold.The Shun Classic line also offers you the widest assortment of both traditional culinary blade shapes and cutting-edge designs, so you can always find the right knife for the task.