What TOJIRO is
TOJIRO is a Japanese knife maker in Tsubame, Niigata, in the metalworking district known as Tsubame-Sanjo. It began in May 1953 as Fujitora Farm Equipment, making machine parts and blades for agricultural machinery. Knife production started in April 1955 with a stainless steel fruit knife, at a point when Japanese cooks widely considered stainless inferior to carbon steel. Getting stainless to cut properly became the company's founding problem, and their corporate line, "more than just sharpness", comes directly out of it.
The company incorporated as Fujitora Industry in 1964 and took the TOJIRO name in July 2015. It is still run by the founding family: Susumu Fujita became president in 2000, succeeding his father Torao Fujita. Around a hundred people work there. The company mark comes from four images of Mt Fuji, one for each of the principles the family works to, sincerity, devotion, gratitude and creation, which is also where the Fujita and Fujitora names lead.
Tsubame-Sanjo has made metal goods since the early 1600s, beginning with hand-forged nails and expanding into knives, copperware and cutlery. It remains Japan's centre for precision metalwork.
How the knives are made
TOJIRO are unusually candid about their process, and it is worth understanding because it explains a great deal about the knives.
The blades are stamped rather than hand-forged. TOJIRO press blade blanks from sheets of clad steel using stamping machines. The clad steel itself is forged, layers pressed together by the same principle used to make a katana from tamahagane, but the blade shape is cut by machine rather than beaten out by hand.
Two things follow from that. It is a large part of why TOJIRO knives cost what they do, and it is why their consistency is so good. A stamped blade from a controlled sheet varies far less than a hand-forged one, which is exactly what you want if you are buying a working knife rather than an object. Everything after the stamping happens in the same Tsubame facilities, hardening, grinding, edging and handle fitting, with no outsourced steps. If you specifically want the character and variation of a hand-forged blade, that is a different kind of knife and a different budget.
Three-layer construction
Nearly every TOJIRO kitchen knife is built from three layers, or san-mai: a hard cutting core sandwiched between two softer outer layers of stainless steel.
The reason is a trade-off. A blade that is hard all the way through holds a superb edge but resists sharpening and chips more readily. A soft blade sharpens easily and dulls just as fast. Putting the hard steel only where the edge is gives you a fine, long-lasting edge on a knife that still comes back on an ordinary whetstone.
The core is VG10, a cobalt alloy high-carbon stainless developed by Takefu Special Steel, hardened to approximately 60 HRC. Our stated hardness ratings are averages and may vary by plus or minus 1. The outer layers are 13-chrome stainless, so the knife resists rust and staining rather than demanding you dry it the second you put it down.
A design that has not needed changing
The three-layer bolstered knife that became the DP, and is now CLASSIC, won Japan's Good Design Award in 1980 and again in 1981. In October 1996 the same knife won the Good Design Award a third time along with the Long Life Design award, which is given to products that stay relevant rather than ones that launch well. TOJIRO PRO won a Good Design Award in 2000, and the company's own factory building won one in 2018.
A note on names and codes
TOJIRO renamed its flagship range from DP to CLASSIC. The knives are unchanged: same VG10 core, same construction, same handle. A CLASSIC sits alongside a DP you already own. In Japan the same knives are sold under the Fujitora name with the same model codes.
Each knife carries a short model code rather than a name, and it is the fastest way to confirm exactly which knife you are looking at. CLASSIC and the accessories use an F- prefix, so F-808 is the 210mm chef knife. HAMMERED runs F-1110 to F-1116. FLASH uses FF- plus a shape abbreviation and the blade length in millimetres, so FF-CH210 is the 210mm chef knife and FF-VE180 the 180mm nakiri.
Seeing them in person
TOJIRO run an open factory at their Tsubame site where you can watch production, try knives, have blades engraved and get them re-sharpened, with galleries in Tokyo at Kappabashi and Osaka at Sennichimae. Closer to home, we keep a selection on display in our knife cabinets at 428 Swift Street, Albury, so you can put one in your hand before you buy.
Choosing a shape
Most people pick a knife by how it looks and then find it does not suit how they cook. Work the other way around. The shape decides what a knife is genuinely good at, and it matters far more than which range you end up in.
Chef knife (gyuto)
Curved belly, pointed tip, tapers to the point. It handles meat, fish and vegetables and it is the knife to own if you only own one. TOJIRO make it in every range.
The Japanese profile is flatter than a European chef knife, so it suits push and pull cutting rather than the rocking motion most people learn on. That takes about a week to stop noticing, and once it clicks the flatter profile is faster, because more of the edge meets the board on each cut.
Available across CLASSIC (F-807 to F-811, 18cm to 30cm), HAMMERED (F-1114 to F-1116, 18cm to 24cm), FLASH (FF-CH160 to FF-CH270, 16cm to 27cm) and PRO (F-891 and F-892, 27cm and 30cm).
Santoku
Shorter and flatter than a gyuto, with a rounded tip instead of a point. The name means three virtues: meat, fish and vegetables. It suits a straight up and down chopping motion and a smaller board, and it is what people reach for when a full chef knife feels like too much knife.
The trade-off is reach and tip work. If you break down whole chickens or need a point for trimming, take the 18cm or 21cm chef knife instead. If most of your cooking is vegetables and everyday prep on a domestic board, the santoku will get used more.
CLASSIC 17cm (F-503), HAMMERED 17cm (F-1112), FLASH 18cm (FF-SA180).
Nakiri
Straight from heel to tip and tall through the blade, squared off at the end. Built for vegetables and nothing else. Because the edge meets the board along its whole length, one push cut goes right through instead of leaving the last thread attached, and the tall blade scoops what you have cut straight off the board.
Most people have never used one, and most who try one keep it. The honest limit is that TOJIRO's nakiri is a light knife with a spine under 2mm at the heel. It is superb on everyday vegetable prep and less happy splitting a cabbage or working through a large sweet potato. If dense root vegetables are most of your day, the 21cm or 24cm chef knife has the mass to do that work and the nakiri can come second.
CLASSIC 16.5cm (F-502), HAMMERED 16.5cm (F-1113), FLASH 18cm (FF-VE180).
Paring and peeling knives
Three jobs sit under this heading and the length tells you which is which.
70mm peeling knives are for work done in the hand rather than on a board: peeling, turning vegetables, coring. CLASSIC (F-799) and FLASH (FF-PE70).
90mm to 130mm is classic paring territory, small enough for garlic, shallots and herbs. CLASSIC (F-800, F-801), HAMMERED (F-1110, F-1111), FLASH (FF-PA100, FF-PA130) and PRO (F-844).
150mm is a petty knife, and it is the size that quietly becomes many cooks' most-used blade: long enough for the board, small enough to stay nimble. CLASSIC (F-802).
One note worth knowing: TOJIRO's CLASSIC 90mm (F-800) is described as a single bevel ground for the right hand. If you are left handed, or you want a conventional double bevel, the 120mm CLASSIC or any of the HAMMERED and FLASH paring knives are double bevel.
Carving knife (sujihiki) and slicer
Narrow and long, so it passes through cooked meat in a single draw rather than sawing back and forth. Less contact means less tearing and a cleaner face on the slice. This is the knife for a roast, a ham or a side of salmon, and it is the one most home kitchens do not own and should.
240mm handles a roast; 270mm has the reach for a full side in one pass. CLASSIC 24cm (F-805), CLASSIC 27cm (F-806), FLASH 21cm (FF-CA210) and the PRO 27cm slicer (F-887).
Boning knife
Stiff through the spine with a fine point, for working joints and following bone. TOJIRO's CLASSIC version is a honesuki, the Japanese poultry-boning pattern, single bevel and ground for the right hand. The FLASH version is a double bevel western boning knife, which is the one to take if you are left handed or want something more general purpose.
CLASSIC 15cm (F-803), FLASH 15cm (FF-BO150).
Deba
Thick and rigid through the spine, made for breaking down whole fish. A deba goes through the head, collar and frame without the blade flexing or the edge rolling, and the tip does the filleting. Use the heel for bone and the tip for the fillet.
The FLASH 16.5cm (FF-DE165) is single bevel and ground for the right hand, which is what lets it ride the bone cleanly.
Yanagi-Sashimi
Long, narrow and single bevel, for slicing sashimi in one pull from heel to tip. That single stroke is what leaves a clean glossy face on the fish instead of a torn one. Not a general purpose knife, and not one to buy unless you slice raw fish.
Traditional Professional 27cm (F-1021), ground for the right hand.
Bread slicer
Serrated, and the only knife here that cannot be re-sharpened. That is true of every bread knife on the market, not a TOJIRO limitation, so buy on how well it cuts rather than expecting to maintain it. Serrations grip a hard crust instead of skidding off it, then carry the cut through soft crumb without crushing the loaf. They also handle tomatoes and anything with a skin tougher than its flesh.
Four options, and they are genuinely different knives. The 23.5cm (F-737) is high-carbon stainless with a timber handle and is our best selling TOJIRO product of all time. The 27cm (F-687) steps up to molybdenum vanadium steel on a reinforced black wood handle and has the length to cross a full sourdough in one pass. The CLASSIC 21.5cm (F-828) and FLASH 24cm (FF-BR240) put the same serrated edge over a VG10 core.
Choosing a size
Blade length matters more than people expect, and longer is not automatically better. The right length is the one you will actually pick up, which depends on your board, your bench and your hands more than it does on how much cooking you do.
Measure your board before you buy. A knife wants room to travel, and a 24cm blade on a 30cm board spends its life hitting the edge. That single check saves more regret than any other advice on this page.
Chef knives
160mm and 180mm. Compact and quick in the hand, and they suit smaller boards, tight benches and smaller hands. If you have been using a 20cm European chef knife and finding it unwieldy, this is the size to try. FLASH offers a 160mm (FF-CH160); CLASSIC, HAMMERED and FLASH all make an 180mm.
210mm. The one most cooks settle on, and the size most often recommended as a first Japanese knife. Enough blade for a chicken or a full board of vegetables, still nimble through a long prep session. If you are unsure, this is the answer. Available in CLASSIC (F-808), HAMMERED (F-1115) and FLASH (FF-CH210).
240mm. Earns its length in volume prep and on large proteins, and it is a common choice for people who cook a lot. On a small board it becomes a nuisance, so check your bench first. CLASSIC (F-809), HAMMERED (F-1116), FLASH (FF-CH240).
270mm and 300mm. Professional lengths, for breaking down large proteins or working through volume on a big board. Buy one because you know you need it, not as a first knife. CLASSIC (F-810, F-811), FLASH (FF-CH270) and PRO (F-891, F-892).
Santoku and nakiri
These sit at 165mm to 180mm and do not really vary, because the shapes stop working outside that range. A santoku much longer than 180mm loses the compactness that is the point of it.
Paring and petty
70mm for in-the-hand work, 90mm to 130mm for detail work on the board, 150mm for a petty that handles most of what a chef knife does. If you are buying two knives, a 210mm chef and a 150mm petty covers more ground than any other pairing.
Carving and slicing
210mm suits a smaller roast, 240mm is the general answer, and 270mm has the reach to take a slice off a full side of salmon in one pass. With this shape the length genuinely does the work, so err longer than you would with a chef knife.
How weight changes with size
Weight is the thing people forget to consider, and it varies more between ranges than between sizes. At 210mm a HAMMERED chef knife is around 135g, a CLASSIC around 185g and a FLASH around 240g. That is a substantial difference in the hand across three knives of identical length and identical steel.
If you have wrist trouble or you prep for long stretches, the lighter Japanese-handled ranges are worth trying before the heavier western-handled ones. If you like a knife that feels solid and does some of the work through its own mass, the opposite applies. This is the single best reason to hold one before you buy, and why we keep them on display at 428 Swift Street.
The ranges compared
Here is the part that saves money. CLASSIC, HAMMERED, FLASH and PRO all use the same VG10 cobalt alloy core at approximately 60 HRC, clad in stainless steel. The steel that does the cutting is identical across all four.
What changes is the outside of the knife: the finish on the blade, the handle material and shape, and the weight in your hand. Those things matter, and they are worth paying for if they matter to you. But none of them will make one TOJIRO cut better than another straight out of the box.
TOJIRO CLASSIC
The one to start with. Eighteen pieces and the widest choice of shapes and sizes in the range.
Full tang, three studs through a reinforced laminate handle, and a metal bolster sealing the join between blade and handle so nothing collects in the gap. The laminate is hard-wearing and does not swell, warp or work loose the way timber can. Nothing about the knife is decorative.
This is the design that won Japan's Good Design Award in 1980 and 1981, then the Good Design and Long Life Design awards together in 1996. It has barely changed since, which is unusual in a category where most makers refresh a line every few years.
The handle is squarer than a European chef knife and it suits a pinch grip, holding the blade rather than the handle, better than a full fist. If you hold a knife by the handle and want something more contoured, look at FLASH. If you want a rounded Japanese-style timber handle, look at HAMMERED.
TOJIRO HAMMERED
The lightest knives TOJIRO make. Seven pieces, chef knives, santoku, nakiri and paring.
The dimpled face is not decoration. Each hammer mark breaks up the flat of the blade so cut food has less surface to cling to, which means fewer slices sticking and less stopping to clear the blade. It matters most on wet vegetables, which is why it earns its keep on the santoku and nakiri more than anywhere.
The finish is a kurouchi-style dark face over the outer layers, with a clear coating applied because a traditional kurouchi finish rusts readily. The handle is Japanese magnolia in the traditional D shape with a resin ferrule, which sits naturally in a pinch grip and is noticeably lighter than a western handle.
At 210mm a HAMMERED chef knife is around 135g against CLASSIC at 185g. If you prep for long stretches or you find full-size knives tiring, this is the range to try first. The trade-off is that a light knife does less of the work for you on dense produce, so if you are splitting cabbages and swedes all day, the heavier CLASSIC or FLASH will suit you better.
Timber handles also want a little more care than laminate: hand wash and dry, and do not leave it sitting in water.
TOJIRO FLASH
The Damascus range. Sixteen pieces, and the widest choice of specialist shapes.
Sold in Japan as Senkou. The VG10 core is wrapped in folded layers of low and high carbon stainless steel, 63 layers on the larger knives and 37 on the smaller ones, which is what draws the rippling pattern along the blade.
Be clear about what the layers do. They produce the pattern and they add corrosion resistance to the outside of the blade. They do not make the knife sharper, because the edge is the same VG10 core as a CLASSIC. Buy FLASH because you want a beautiful knife that performs like a TOJIRO, not because you expect it to outcut one.
What you also get is the best handle in the range: a reinforced laminate, the material sold in the knife trade as Micarta, with a stainless bolster and a blade-to-handle join that is curved rather than squared off so it sits under the finger instead of pressing into it. If the CLASSIC handle has ever felt boxy to you, this is the fix.
FLASH also holds shapes the other ranges do not: a 160mm chef knife, a western boning knife, and the only deba TOJIRO make in this lineup.
These are the heaviest knives here, around 240g at 210mm. That suits people who like a knife with some authority behind it, and suits people with wrist trouble less well.
TOJIRO PRO
Built for commercial kitchens. The handle is the whole point.
It is 18-8 stainless steel formed as a single piece with no timber, no rivets and no seam where the blade meets the grip. Nothing traps moisture or food residue, and it can be sterilised in hot water without a second thought. TOJIRO texture it with what they call a tornado pattern so it holds grip through wet and greasy hands. The series won a Good Design Award in 2000.
If you work in a kitchen with hygiene requirements, or you simply want a knife with nothing on it that can degrade, this is the answer. For a domestic kitchen it is less compelling: an all-metal handle is colder and harder in the hand than laminate or timber, and the range we stock is limited to the longer chef knives, a slicer and a paring knife. For everyday home cooking, CLASSIC gives you more choice.
Which range, in one line each
- CLASSIC if you want the performance and nothing else, or if you want the widest choice of shapes.
- HAMMERED if you want the lightest knife, a timber handle, or you cut a lot of wet vegetables.
- FLASH if you want a knife that looks as good as it cuts, or you want the most comfortable handle.
- PRO if hygiene or sterilising matters, or you want a handle with nothing to degrade.
Gift sets
TOJIRO box a number of their knives in presentation sets, and they are worth considering for two reasons. They are a genuinely good way to start a collection with shapes that complement each other rather than duplicate, and they arrive in a box that looks like a present rather than a knife in cardboard.
All the sets carry the same VG10 core and the same construction as the individual knives, so nothing about buying a set compromises the knife.
CLASSIC sets
Three piece: 90mm paring, 150mm petty and 210mm chef knife. The most complete starting point of the three. Between them these cover detail work in the hand, board work too fine for a chef knife, and everything a chef knife is for. If someone is buying their first Japanese knives and wants to be set up rather than started, this is the one. View the 3pc set
Two piece: 240mm chef knife and 170mm santoku. Two different cutting actions in one box, the gyuto for length and a rocking or push cut, the santoku for straight chopping on a smaller board. Suits a household where two people cook differently. View the 2pc set
Two piece: 120mm paring and 170mm santoku. The most compact pairing, and the one that covers most domestic prep without a full-size chef knife in the mix. A good choice for a smaller kitchen or someone who has never used a large knife comfortably. View the 2pc set
FLASH sets
Two piece: 180mm santoku and 130mm paring knife. A straight chopping blade and a detail blade, in the Damascus finish with the contoured Micarta handle. View the 2pc set
Two piece: 210mm chef knife and 150mm utility knife. The standard gyuto plus a mid-size blade for everything the gyuto is too big for. The closer of the two FLASH sets to a complete working pair. View the 2pc set
Buying a set as a gift
Two things worth knowing before you do.
A set is only a saving if the recipient will use all of it. Someone who already owns a decent chef knife may get more from a single santoku or nakiri they do not have, and one good knife they reach for daily beats three that sit in a drawer.
The second is superstition rather than practicality, but it comes up. In several cultures giving a knife as a gift is said to cut the friendship, and the traditional remedy is for the recipient to hand back a coin so the knife counts as bought rather than given. Worth a mention if you are giving one to someone who might mind.
If you are giving TOJIRO to someone new to Japanese knives, consider adding a whetstone. A hard core will not stay sharp on its own, and a knife that goes blunt in six months with nothing to fix it is a poor gift regardless of what it cost.
Sharpening
A hard steel core holds its edge longer than a soft one, but nothing holds an edge forever. TOJIRO recommend sharpening once or twice a month for normal use. If you buy a Japanese knife and nothing to sharpen it with, you have bought a knife that will be worse than a cheap one within a year.
Why a whetstone
A whetstone removes metal in a controlled way and sets a new edge at the angle you choose. That is what sharpening actually is, and for a hard core it is the only sensible approach.
Steels and pull-through sharpeners do something different. A steel does not remove metal at all, it pushes a rolled edge back into line, which is useful between sharpenings but cannot restore an edge that has genuinely gone. A pull-through with fixed carbide plates tears metal away rather than cutting it, which is why they are hard on good knives.
If setting up stones is not realistic on a busy section, the PRO Double Rolling Sharpener (F-641) is the compromise worth making. It uses two rolling ceramic stones at 320 and 1000 grit rather than fixed carbide, so the abrasive turns as the blade passes and cuts rather than tearing. The stones are replaceable, so the unit is not disposable when they wear. It is for double bevel knives only, and TOJIRO state plainly that it must not be used on serrated or single bevel blades.
Understanding grit
Grit works like sandpaper. Low numbers cut fast and repair damage. Middle numbers set the working edge most knives live on. High numbers polish that edge to something that parts a tomato under its own weight.
- 220 to 400. Repairing chips and reshaping a blade. You will not need this often, and reaching for it when you do not is just removing metal you cannot put back.
- 800 to 1000. The working grit. This is where a routine sharpening happens and where most people should start.
- 3000. Finishing. Refines the working edge and makes a noticeable difference on soft produce and on fish.
Which stone to buy first
Start with a combination stone. One stone, two grits, one purchase. The 1000 and 3000 combination (F-433) is the one we point most people at: 1000 sets the working edge, 3000 finishes it, and between them they cover everything routine. It sits on a base with non-slip rubber feet, which matters more than it sounds when your hands are wet and you are still learning.
If you expect to be repairing chipped edges, or rescuing knives that have been neglected, take the 220 and 1000 combination (F-432) instead. It swaps the finishing grit for a repairing one.
If you only want the one job done properly, the single 1000 grit stone (F-431) is the simplest option.
Professional stones
TOJIRO's professional stones are larger and thicker than the home range, so they last through far more sharpenings and give you more surface to work on. If you sharpen weekly, or you are sharpening for a kitchen rather than a household, they are worth the step up.
220 grit (F-451) for repairing chips and reshaping. 800 grit (F-452) and 1000 grit (F-453) for the working edge.
The abrasive differs by grit. The coarse and combination stones use silicon carbide, which cuts fast. The finer stones use fused alumina, which cuts more slowly and leaves a better polish.
The two ceramic stones are a different construction again, made from fused alumina on an ABS base, and they cut faster on hard steel than a conventional stone of the same grit, which suits VG10 well. The ceramic 400 (F-471) handles repair work and the ceramic 3000 (F-473) is the finishing stone in the professional range.
The supporting tools
A flattening stone. Whetstones wear unevenly. The middle does most of the work, so it dishes out while the ends stay high, and once that happens you are no longer sharpening at the angle you think you are. The edge comes out rounded and no amount of technique fixes it. The 60 grit flattening stone (F-421) cuts a worn stone back level. It must never be used on a knife.
A sharpening bar. Trues a rolled edge between sharpenings and stretches the interval before you need the stones again. TOJIRO's are fine cut, meaning shallow closely spaced grooves that straighten the edge without chewing at it, which is what you want on hard Japanese steel where a coarse steel would do harm. 27.5cm (F-846) suits blades up to around 24cm; 30cm (F-847) is for longer professional blades.
A leather strop. The finishing move after the stone. Drawing the blade backwards across leather removes the burr that even a fine stone leaves behind and aligns what is left of the edge. The difference between a knife straight off the stone and the same knife after a dozen passes on leather is immediately obvious in the cut. The natural leather strop (F-461) is cowhide on a magnolia base with rubber stoppers so it stays put on the bench. Untreated, so use it bare or charge it with a polishing compound.
An angle guide. The hardest part of learning to sharpen is holding one angle for the length of the stroke. The TOGRIP stabiliser (F-441) clips to the spine and rides on the stone so the angle stays where you set it, and the bevel comes out even rather than rounded. The contact point is alumina-base ceramic rather than plastic, so it holds accuracy over far more sessions than a soft guide would.
Replacement stones. The ceramic wheels in the PRO sharpener wear with use, and once they do the unit burnishes a tired edge rather than cutting a new one. Replacement wheels (F-411) at 320 and 1000 grit keep it working.
One thing that cannot be sharpened
Serrated blades. TOJIRO state this directly: bread knives and similar serrated slicers cannot be re-sharpened because of how the edge is cut. That applies to every bread knife on the market, so buy one on how well it cuts rather than expecting to maintain it.
How TOJIRO recommend sharpening
Soak the stone until no air bubbles come out of it. Hold the handle firmly with your thumb on the blade. Work one section at a time, starting at the top of the blade, at roughly 15 degrees for a double bevel edge, and check the back of the blade for a burr as you go. When you can feel a burr along a section, that section is done and you move to the next. The last section at the very end of the blade does not need to be taken as keenly; leave it slightly obtuse. Once the whole edge is burred, turn the knife over and work the back lightly, only enough to remove the burr. Finish on a higher grit if you have one.
For a single bevel knife, such as a yanagiba or the CLASSIC honesuki, the technique is different: lay the kiriha, the slanted face of the blade, flat on the stone and work back and forth without tilting it.
Boards and storage
The board matters as much as the stone
A hard edge and a hard surface do not go together. Glass, stone, ceramic and hard composite boards will chip a VG10 edge, and a steel bench will do it faster. If you have spent money on a Japanese knife, what sits underneath it is not an afterthought.
TOJIRO make their boards from kiri, or paulownia, which is the timber Japanese kitchens have used for centuries for one reason: it is soft. A soft board gives under the edge instead of resisting it, so the knife stops where it should and the edge is not blunted every time it lands.
Paulownia has other properties worth having. It is extremely light for its size, which matters when you are carrying a wet board to the sink. It has a naturally high oil content that slows water absorption, so it dries fast and resists warping, splitting and bacteria. The trade-off is that a soft board marks more readily than a hard one, but those cuts are the board doing its job rather than wearing out.
Five sizes, all 20mm thick: Extra Small at 19x27cm, Small at 23.5x42cm, Medium at 29.5x45cm, Large at 29.5x53cm and Square at 32.5x35cm.
Match the board to the knife rather than the other way around. A 240mm chef knife wants the Large or the Square, and anything smaller means the blade runs out of board before it runs out of cut. The Extra Small is a prep board for a single onion rather than a main board.
Hand wash, stand on edge to dry, and never put a timber board in a dishwasher.
Storage
How you store a knife matters more than most people think. Loose in a drawer is how edges chip, how blades get scratched, and how people cut themselves reaching in. It is the most common way a good knife gets ruined between sharpenings.
Magnetic block. A slotted block drags the edge across timber every time a knife goes in or out, and the slots are close to impossible to clean properly. The magnetic wooden block (F-362) holds the blade flat against an open face instead, so nothing touches the edge and there is nowhere for moisture to sit. It is also not locked to one set of knife sizes: anything from a peeling knife to a 300mm gyuto sits on the same face. Supplied empty.
Eight slot roll. If you carry a full kit to work, the nylon roll (F-355) gives eight knives their own sleeves so nothing touches anything else. It takes a chef knife or yanagi-sashimi up to 300mm, a western deba up to 270mm and a deba up to 240mm, and folds to 500x150x30mm closed. Nylon wipes clean and does not soak up water the way canvas does.
Zipped four knife case. The polyester case (F-354) is a different thing to the roll: a zipped case with five fitted pockets rather than open sleeves, holding two petty knives up to 150mm and two chef knives up to 240mm. Around 428g, and it folds down to roughly 43x16x5cm. If you carry a small set and want them enclosed rather than rolled, this is the one.
Canvas pocket. Smaller and simpler again. The cotton canvas pocket (F-359) holds five knives, sized for a chef knife or yanagi-sashimi up to 240mm, a western deba up to 240mm or a deba up to 165mm.
All three are supplied empty, and TOJIRO note that depending on blade shape some knives may not fit, so check against those lengths before you buy.
Fish preparation
The PRO bone tweezers (F-642) have flat wide jaws, which let you grip a pin bone against the flesh and draw it out along its own line rather than snapping it off. Pin bones sit at an angle in the fillet, so pulling straight up breaks them and shreds the flesh around them. Solid 18-8 stainless throughout with no joins to trap residue, so it rinses clean and can be sterilised.
Care and maintenance
This is TOJIRO's own guidance, and it is short because there is not much to it.
After every use, wash by hand with a soft sponge and neutral detergent, rinse thoroughly, wipe off the remaining moisture and let it dry before storing.
Never the dishwasher. The heat and the chemicals are bad for the blade and worse for the handle. Do not leave a knife sitting in water in the sink either, which causes rust on the blade and corrosion where the handle meets it.
Wash acids and salts off promptly. Stainless is stain resistant, not stain proof. If a knife is left with salty or acidic residue on it, or stored somewhere damp for a long time, rust can still form. After cutting pickles, lemons or anything similar, rinse it sooner rather than later.
If rust does appear, wash it with a sponge and cleanser, or take it back on a whetstone. Do not attack it with steel wool or anything abrasive, which will scratch the blade.
Never dry a knife in a microwave. TOJIRO say this explicitly, which suggests someone has tried it.
Keep it off bone, frozen food, glass and stone. VG10 is hard, and hard steel chips when it meets something harder. Most chipped Japanese knives were used on a bone, a frozen item or a glass board. This is the single most useful thing to know about owning one.
Sharpen once or twice a month for normal use, and use a sharpening bar in between if you want to stretch the interval.
Quick reference
Every TOJIRO product we stock, by range. Model codes are the ones printed on the packaging.
TOJIRO CLASSIC
| Code | Knife | Blade | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| F-799 | Peeling knife | 7cm | Double bevel |
| F-800 | Paring knife | 9cm | Single bevel, right hand |
| F-801 | Paring knife | 12cm | Double bevel |
| F-802 | Paring knife | 15cm | Double bevel |
| F-803 | Chicken boning knife | 15cm | Single bevel, right hand |
| F-502 | Nakiri | 16.5cm | Double bevel |
| F-503 | Santoku | 17cm | Double bevel |
| F-807 | Chef knife | 18cm | Double bevel |
| F-808 | Chef knife | 21cm | Double bevel |
| F-828 | Bread slicer | 21.5cm | Serrated |
| F-809 | Chef knife | 24cm | Double bevel |
| F-805 | Carving knife | 24cm | Double bevel |
| F-806 | Carving knife | 27cm | Double bevel |
| F-810 | Chef knife | 27cm | Double bevel |
| F-811 | Chef knife | 30cm | Double bevel |
| Set 3pc | Paring 9cm, paring 15cm, chef 21cm | ||
| Set 2pc | Chef 24cm, santoku 17cm | ||
| Set 2pc | Paring 12cm, santoku 17cm |
TOJIRO HAMMERED
| Code | Knife | Blade | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| F-1110 | Paring knife | 9cm | Double bevel |
| F-1111 | Paring knife | 13cm | Double bevel |
| F-1113 | Nakiri | 16.5cm | Double bevel |
| F-1112 | Santoku | 17cm | Double bevel |
| F-1114 | Chef knife | 18cm | Double bevel |
| F-1115 | Chef knife | 21cm | Double bevel |
| F-1116 | Chef knife | 24cm | Double bevel |
TOJIRO FLASH
| Code | Knife | Blade | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| FF-PE70 | Peeling knife | 7cm | Double bevel |
| FF-PA100 | Paring knife | 10cm | Double bevel |
| FF-PA130 | Paring knife | 13cm | Double bevel |
| FF-BO150 | Boning knife | 15cm | Double bevel |
| FF-CH160 | Chef knife | 16cm | Double bevel |
| FF-DE165 | Deba | 16.5cm | Single bevel, right hand |
| FF-CH180 | Chef knife | 18cm | Double bevel |
| FF-SA180 | Santoku | 18cm | Double bevel |
| FF-VE180 | Nakiri | 18cm | Double bevel |
| FF-CA210 | Carving knife | 21cm | Double bevel |
| FF-CH210 | Chef knife | 21cm | Double bevel |
| FF-BR240 | Bread slicer | 24cm | Serrated |
| FF-CH240 | Chef knife | 24cm | Double bevel |
| FF-CH270 | Chef knife | 27cm | Double bevel |
| Set 2pc | Chef 21cm, utility 15cm | ||
| Set 2pc | Santoku 18cm, paring 13cm |
TOJIRO PRO
| Code | Item | Blade | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| F-844 | Paring knife | 9cm | Double bevel |
| F-887 | Slicer | 27cm | Double bevel |
| F-891 | Chef knife | 27cm | Double bevel |
| F-892 | Chef knife | 30cm | Double bevel |
| F-641 | Double rolling sharpener | ||
| F-411 | Replacement stones, 320 and 1000 grit | ||
| F-642 | Fish bone tweezers |
TOJIRO Whetstone
| Code | Stone | Grit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| F-421 | Flattening stone | 60 | For dressing stones, never for knives |
| F-431 | Whetstone with base | 1000 | Home |
| F-432 | Combination with base | 220 and 1000 | Home, repair and working edge |
| F-433 | Combination with base | 1000 and 3000 | Home, working edge and finishing |
| F-451 | Professional whetstone | 220 | Repairing and reshaping |
| F-452 | Professional whetstone | 800 | Working edge |
| F-453 | Professional whetstone | 1000 | Working edge |
| F-471 | Ceramic with base | 400 | Repairing, cuts fast on hard steel |
| F-473 | Ceramic with base | 3000 | Finishing, cuts fast on hard steel |
Boards, storage and accessories
| Code | Item | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| F-344 | Paulownia cutting board, extra small | 19x27cm |
| F-345 | Paulownia cutting board, small | 23.5x42cm |
| F-346 | Paulownia cutting board, medium | 29.5x45cm |
| F-347 | Paulownia cutting board, large | 29.5x53cm |
| F-349 | Paulownia cutting board, square | 32.5x35cm |
| F-354 | Polyester knife case | Zipped, four knives |
| F-355 | Nylon knife roll | Eight slots, blades to 300mm |
| F-359 | Canvas knife pocket | Five knives, blades to 240mm |
| F-362 | Magnetic wooden knife block | Supplied empty |
| F-441 | TOGRIP sharpening stabiliser | Ceramic contact point |
| F-461 | Natural leather strop | Cowhide on magnolia base |
| F-846 | Sharpening bar, fine cut | 27.5cm, blades to 24cm |
| F-847 | Sharpening bar, fine cut | 30cm, longer blades |
| F-687 | Bread slicer | 27cm, molybdenum vanadium steel |
| F-737 | Bread slicer | 23.5cm, high-carbon stainless |
| F-1021 | Traditional Professional yanagi-sashimi | 27cm, single bevel, right hand |
Frequently asked questions
Is TOJIRO CLASSIC the same as TOJIRO DP?
Yes. TOJIRO renamed the range and the knives are unchanged: same VG10 core, same three-layer construction, same handle, same model codes. A CLASSIC sits alongside a DP you already own. You may also see them sold as Fujitora, which is the name TOJIRO trades under in Japan.
Can I put a TOJIRO in the dishwasher?
No. TOJIRO's own guidance is to wash by hand with a soft sponge and neutral detergent, rinse, and dry before storing. Dishwasher heat and chemicals damage the blade and the handle, and leaving a knife sitting in water causes rust on the blade and corrosion where the handle meets it.
How often should I sharpen it?
Once or twice a month for normal use, which is TOJIRO's own recommendation. A sharpening bar used between sharpenings will stretch that interval. Serrated bread knives are the exception and cannot be re-sharpened at all.
Which range should I start with?
CLASSIC. It has the widest choice of shapes and sizes, it is the pattern the brand was built on, and nothing in it is a compromise. HAMMERED and FLASH change the blade finish and the handle, not the steel that does the cutting.
What size chef knife should I buy?
210mm suits most people. It handles a chicken or a full board of vegetables while staying nimble through a long prep session. Go to 180mm if your board is small or a full-size knife feels unwieldy, and to 240mm if you cook in volume. Measure your board before deciding: a long blade on a short board spends its life hitting the edge.
Are the handles comfortable?
The CLASSIC handle is squarer than a European chef knife and suits a pinch grip, holding the blade rather than the handle, better than a full fist. If you hold a knife by the handle, FLASH has the most contoured handle in the range, with a curved blade-to-handle join designed to sit under the finger. HAMMERED uses a rounded Japanese-style timber handle, which is a different feel again and the lightest of the three.
Why is my TOJIRO chipping?
VG10 is hard steel, and hard steel chips when it meets something harder. In practice this is almost always bone, frozen food, a glass or stone board, or a steel bench. Use a timber or soft composite board, keep it off bone, and let it thaw first. If you regularly cut through bone, that is a job for a heavier western knife rather than a Japanese one.
Can I use a pull-through sharpener on it?
On a double bevel knife, yes, though a whetstone will always do a better job. TOJIRO's own PRO Double Rolling Sharpener uses rolling ceramic stones rather than fixed carbide, so it cuts the edge rather than tearing at it. Do not use any pull-through on a serrated blade or a single bevel knife such as a yanagiba or the CLASSIC honesuki, which TOJIRO state explicitly.
Is a TOJIRO hand-forged?
No, and TOJIRO are open about it. The blades are stamped from sheets of clad steel, and the clad steel itself is forged by the same principle used to make a katana. That is a large part of why the knives cost what they do, and it is also why their consistency is so good: a stamped blade from a controlled sheet varies far less than a hand-forged one. Everything after the stamping happens in their own Tsubame factories.
Are they left handed friendly?
Most of the range is double bevel and works equally well in either hand. Four knives are single bevel and ground for the right hand: the CLASSIC 9cm paring knife (F-800), the CLASSIC chicken boning knife (F-803), the FLASH deba (FF-DE165) and the Traditional Professional yanagi-sashimi (F-1021). If you are left handed, the double bevel equivalents in the same shapes will suit you better.
What is the difference between a santoku and a nakiri?
A santoku is a general purpose knife with a slight curve to the edge, good for meat, fish and vegetables. A nakiri is straight from heel to tip and made for vegetables only, so it meets the board along its whole length and a single push cut goes right through. If you want one knife, take the santoku. If you already have a chef knife and cut a lot of vegetables, the nakiri will surprise you.
Do I need a whetstone?
Yes, or something equivalent. A hard core will not stay sharp indefinitely, and a Japanese knife that goes blunt with no way to bring it back is worse than a cheap knife you replace. A 1000 and 3000 grit combination stone covers routine sharpening and finishing in a single purchase.
How long will a TOJIRO last?
Decades, if you look after it. We have stocked TOJIRO since 2010 and the knives that come back are almost always ones that met a bone or a hard bench, not ones that wore out. Hand wash, keep it off hard surfaces, and sharpen it monthly, and there is no reason it will not outlast the kitchen it goes into.
