Ikenami Hamono HSS Bunka-bocho 170mm

The bunka-bōcho is a general purpose chef's knife for vegetables, meat and fish.

The Ikenami Hamono bunka has a lot going for it. The high-quality sculpted sandalwood handle is comfortable and durable. Stainless cladding means low maintenance. The blade is HAP40 high speed 'tool' steel, offering high wear resistance and superior edge retention. In the hands of Ikenami Hamono all this adds up to traditional Japanese cutting feel in a western-style knife that in a home kitchen may need sharpening only once a year, even with daily use.

For the length this is a light knife in hand - well balanced, and light. The blade is much thinner than a Japanese-style knife of the same length, hence the difference in weight. Heat treatment applied to this blade on Tanegashima island results in a very hard steel that will be slow to sharpen but that can be made razor sharp, so lightness shouldn't mean extra effort. Quite the opposite.

The bunka knife is essentially the same knife as a santoku, or a bannou. While this knife looks much like a miniature version of Ikenami Hamono's excellent 210mm gyuto from the same 'haisu' range it's safe to say that the 170mm bunka is a better choice for most family cooking.