There are two major factions in the kitchen knife world, the German and the Japanese. The performance of German kitchen knives is relatively balanced, and the blade is relatively thick, which is closer to Chinese cooking knives, while Japanese kitchen knives pursue high sharpness and light feel. Located in Seki, the "Sword Capital of Japan", Shell is the largest manufacturer of machine-made knives in Japan, with a century-old history of knife making. In the Japanese kitchen knife industry, Kaiyin is a well-deserved industry giant, whether it is a mid-level player who pursues high performance, or a high-end player who values the value of collectibles, you can find the right kitchen knife in Kaiyin.
 
The Xun series is the most representative product of Beiyin, and it is also its trump card product line based on the international market. The blade is made by stacking multiple layers of steel to create a mottled pattern, which is known as the "Damascus steel knife".
 
The "beauty" is determined by the Damascus steel pattern blade, and the "profit" is determined by the blade. In addition to its exquisite appearance, Shun also adheres to the advantages of high-hardness Japanese knives, showing their sharpness in two aspects: the blade steel and the angle of the blade. Most of them use the more mainstream steel clamping process, using high-hardness and high-quality steel on the blade, with a hardness of more than 60HRC, and most Chinese kitchen knives can only reach a maximum of 58HRC, plus a 16-degree cutting angle, the overall sharpness of the kitchen knife reaches the high-quality level.
 
Classic is the entry product line of the decade, "33 layers of Damascus steel" structure, 16 layers of steel on both sides of the blade, VG-MAX steel sandwiched in the middle, Japanese high-quality kitchen knives generally use VG-10 stainless steel, VG-MAX is its optimized version, the difference is not big, all from Japan Wusheng Special Steel Company, when used can effectively improve cutting efficiency, recommended by the United States "Consumer Reports".
 
The official domestic price of Classic series kitchen knives is about 1500 yuan, including several commonly used knife types, such as Chinese slice knives, Sande knives, chef knives and chopping knives, etc., of which Sande knives and chef knives are Japanese and Western multi-functional knives respectively, similar to Chinese slice knives, if you only want to add a general knife, you can choose these knife types.
 
Among them, the DM0718 Santoku knife is the award-winning work of the 2003 Blade Show "Kitchen Knife of the Year", and it is still the best-selling model of the Classic series. If you prefer the anti-stick function, you can choose the Shun Premier series, which has a concave and convex hammer pattern on the surface of the blade, a walnut handle, and the blade material is the same as the Classic series, and the price is more than 100 yuan.
 
Most of the high-end product lines are launched in limited editions, with more aesthetic blade patterns, more steel layers, and more advanced materials. Taiyo is the latest product, the appearance design is very dazzling, the surface pattern is projected, imitating the "rays of the sun", the knife body is a 63-layer composite structure, the blade is made of SG-2 powder steel, which is one of the top steels in the current kitchen knife materials, the hardness reaches 64HRC, compared with VG-MAX steel, the toughness and corrosion resistance are improved, and the blade can be kept sharp for a longer time. Unlike the Classic's D-shaped handle, the octagonal handle has a better grip and is more comfortable to hold.
 
The SG-2 steel kitchen knife also has Tsuyu, Fuji and Reserve series, the Fuji and Reserve series are early products and are rarely available on the market now. These series are representatives of high-end products, the price is higher, more than 5000 yuan, the cost performance is not as good as the Classic series, if you do not pursue additional handle and knife body technology, you can choose the SG-2 steel entry product Kaji series, the price is more than 2000 yuan.
 
Guan Sun six series in the appearance design and materials are not as good as the series, but the price is relatively cheap, within 500 yuan, more suitable as an ordinary kitchen knife, product positioning focuses on practicality, is the main series for the Japanese local market, rich knife types, covering Japanese traditional knives, such as thin blades and blades. In the Chinese market, the main production of Chinese slicing knives, the blade is relatively thick, the feel is heavy, suitable for straight cutting and other Chinese cutting methods, compared with ordinary stainless steel knives, the sharpness retention is better.
 
It is worth mentioning that the stainless steel used in Japanese kitchen knives has a relatively high hardness, and relatively the toughness is slightly insufficient, so avoid contact with harder ingredients in daily use, such as handling bones, which are easy to cause chipping.