Product Review

The Kanso 6-Piece block set contains all the essential blades for every chef: a paring knife, a santoku knife, a utility knife, a chef’s knife, a honing steel to keep blades at their best between professional sharpenings, and an 8-slot knife block to store and protect your cutlery investment. What makes Kanso knives special? Kanso is a design principle based on Zen philosophy. It means “simplicity,” but simplicity that is achieved by eliminating the non-essential. In Kanso, we took away anything that doesn’t matter and kept everything that does: high-performance steel, razor-sharp edge, perfect balance, and precision cutting control. The steel is Japanese AUS10A—highly refined, high-carbon, vanadium stainless steel that takes a razor-sharp edge and holds it longer. Kanso's Heritage finish hides scratches and gives Kanso a rustic look that just improves with age. The handle is made of Tagayasan wood, sometimes known as “iron sword wood." The handle contouring enables an easy chef's grip. Full-tang construction provides strength, balance, and easy cutting control. Like all Shun knives, Kanso is sharpened to a 16° cutting angle each side to cut cleanly and help preserve food’s freshness and best taste. Hand-crafted in Seki City, Japan, Kanso is essential simplicity: a simple kitchen knife that simply performs.