If you want the highest quality (korkein laatu) Kamikoto Kanpeki knife set alternative, I will provide you a set of the highest quality Japanese knives by the highest quality Japanese brands. Also, high-quality times infinity, FTW
This is so odd, but I never noticed till now how odd the set of knife styles chosen by the Finnish dude the founder of Deal Dash and Kamikoto had compiled because there is no kitchen knife (gyuto) or multi-use (santoku) knife in the main Kamikoto Kanpeki knife set.
In my Kamikoto knife review, the highest quality review, I will be comparing:
1. Kamikoto Kanpeki Knife set for $326. 2. The highest’ess’ess quality Japanese knife set curated by yours truly for $195. 3. The Shun Classic 5-piece set for $399. 3a. Miyabi/Zwilling 7″ Santoku for $384.
I am also throwing in for free my high-quality writing if you order within the next 30 minutes (this is the internet, I will know).
Now in Finnish (sorry Swedish speakers):
Tämä on niin outoa, mutta en ole toistaiseksi huomannut, kuinka omituiseksi Deal Dashista suomalaisen jätkän valitsema veitsityylisarja oli koonnut, koska Kamikoto Kanpeki -veitsessä ei ole keittiöveistä (gyuto) tai monikäyttöveistä (santoku). aseta.
FYI: why the smattering of “high-quality”?
It’s because this is how you build a brand by the eCommerce company behind Kamikoto who has been praised for their marketing prowess in Hong Kong, you just say “high-quality” (korkein laatu means high quality in Finnish).
Table of Content
High-quality $23 butterknives (バターナイフ / batānaifu) made of SUS420J2 Honshu Stainless Steel are great for buttering your bread because they are corrosion resistant.
Japanese Honshu steel crafted by craftsmen with a 10 years of butter knife craftsmanship can create a butter knife like no other.
Not Necessarily the TL;DR
- My Kamikoto Kanpeki knife review compares/judges: type of knives offered, size of blade, steels used and the quality of steel utilizing the Hardness Rockwell C (HRc) scale, and finally pricing.
- Hardness Rockwell (HRc): Ideally anything below a 52 is not ideal for a kitchen knife and the 56-68 range is what it takes to be a quality kitchen knife. Kamikoto comes in at a 53 +/-2 (51 to 55).
- This is why Japanese made knives are sought after: 1. Japanese blades hold their edge, and they stay sharper longer. Because you can sharpen a $2 butter knife to cut razor-thin slices, but if it does not hold its edge, you’ve got a $2 butter knife, 2. consistent build quality. 3. reasonably priced and you get what you pay for, no pricing games.
- This is what you get with Chinese marketing brands: 1. plays off the reputation of the Japanese to sell inferior products for the same price as Japanese brands, 2. often engaged in deceitful marketing tactics. 3. inconsistent product quality, 4. not transparent or truthful aka deceit.
- If you are not a vegetarian, the Kamikoto Kanpeki knife set does not make much sense unless you already own a ton of knives.
- Consider buying one versatile knife, not a set: if you do, either a gyuto (chefs knife), santoku (multi-use), or I would also highly suggest you buy a German made knife because they are like Hans/Helga, well engineered and thus sturdy.
- My curated set of the top Japanese knife companies are $130 cheaper than Kamikoto, minus the certificate (no certificates of achievement ever graced my parents fridge with my name on it, but look at how I turned out) or box (you can find some other place to stash your stash).
- Shun (made in Japan) vs. Kamikoto (made in China): you will only spend $73 more, and you will not only get a better product BY FAR (no comparison), along with a set of knives you will use.
- My venti chocolate cream cold brew coffee from Starbucks does not make Starbucks an Italian company or product because they use an Italian word (parola italiana).
- For lunch, I had Finnish food (poronkäristys), so when I dropped a deuce this evening, it means that turd was Finnish/French (I had French fries too).
This is What You Get in a Kamikoto Kanpeki Knife Set 刀具套装
This is what is in a Kamikoto Kanpeki knife 🇭🇰 set $1,505 (retails for) $326
Kamikoto 愚蠢的美国人
A company of 20-somethings that, like, you know, knows the internets and the Google and TikTok’ng, so Finnish dude (suomalainen mies) and French chick (femmes françaises), the founders started the Kamikoto D-T-C (direct-to-consumer) marketing brand. The parent e-commerce company is based in Hong Kong 香港 and was like founded in 2014.
- 7-inch Nakiri vegetable knife / Kasvisveitsi
- 8.5-inch Slicing knife / Viipalointiveitsi
- 5-inch Utility knife / Yleisveitsi
- Handcrafted Honshu 本州 steel blades / Käsintehty
- Single bevel 片刃 Kata-ha blade / Yksi viiste
- 1000/3000 Toishi Whetstone / Hiomakivi
- Lifetime Guarantee / Imeä munaa
Look at all that kana they use to imply it is Japanese, round of applause / Katsokaa kaikkea sitä kanaa, jolla he vihjaavat, että se on japanilaista, aplodit.
This is interesting
“People in Finland need to change their dietary habits, according to the country’s health institute. Adults in Finland eat too much meat and not enough vegetables.” Yet the main Kamikoto knife is a vegetable knife.
– YLE.fi “Finns eat too much red meat, study says.”
Kamikoto (Made in China) vs. the Japanese (Made in Japan)
This is another odd thing, Kamikoto uses “Japanese” throughout their marketing copy, but when it comes down to the actual products they only cite one knife as Japanese, the nakiri (a vegetable knife). The other two are a slicing and a utility knife.
| KAMIKOTO KANPEKI SET | JAPANESE (5 CURATED BRANDS) | SHUN CUTLERY CLASSIC |
|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong China | Niigata to Seki City, Japan | Tokyo, Japan |
| 7-inch Nakiri Veg. knife | 6.5-inch Nakiri | 8-inch Chef’s Knife |
| 8.5-inch Slicing knife | 10.6-inch Sujihiki | 6-inch Utility Knife |
| 5-inch Utility knife | 5.9-inch Petty | 3.5-inch Paring Knife |
| 1000/3000 Toishi Whetstone | Combination Grit Waterstone (Whetstone) 1000/3000 with Stand | *Combination Honing Steel, and the Slimline Bamboo Knife Block. |
| $326 | $195 ( | $399 ( |
| +$9 7-inch Santoku | +$97 ( 7.1-inch Santoku | — |
| $335 total | $292 ( | — |
| 🇭🇰 $192 7-inch Santoku Only | 🇯🇵🇩🇪 $384 7-inch Santoku Only | 🇯🇵 $119 7-inch Santoku Only |
“The perfect paring knife must be sharp with a pointed tip. It should be comfortable and lightweight, with a blade that’s 3 to 4 inches long. It’s not necessary for a paring knife to cost more than $10.”
I still like and trust The NY Times, so check out their entire article.
Kamikoto/China Bladesmiths vs. Japanese Blacksmiths
This is why Japanese knives are popular, you get a whole lot of knife for very little money, it is what Japan is known for and you can read my previous blog post “Are Japanese Knives Worth It.“
According to the Sharp Edge Shop as HRC Applies to Knives:
52-54 HRC
I need to add Sharp Edge Shop to all of my lists because they seem to be doing a phenomenal job (I need to email them).
These are very soft steels but relatively solid and inexpensive knives can be made out of it. Their sharpness is reasonable, yet not very smooth or fine. Due to the structure of these steels, they are not simple to sharpen with whetstones at home.
Anything in the 56-68 Range (HRC)
This range is in the realm of French, German, American (brands like Spyderco), to the Japanese, and you will have to click on this link for the full article which is worth the read if you want to learn more about HRC(these people from Lithuania, SharpEdgeShop are hella cool).
According to AG Russell, 59-66 is the Premium Range (HRC)
“Premium steels range from 59-66 HRC. As modern metallurgy advances, it is entirely possible these numbers might go up. Typically, a good everyday use pocket knife is about 57-59 HRC. You will be perfectly happy with a steel that hard.” – AGRussell (who is well respected on BaldeForums.com)
Hardness Rockwell “C” scale (in ascending order), for more go to DesignNews: “Understanding the Hardness of Metals.”
Product HRC Comparison in Ascending Order
| TYPE OF STEEL | HRc | COMMON USAGE |
|---|---|---|
| CRATE & BARREL: Crafted in stainless steel with a brushed satin finish. Made in Vietnam or China 🇨🇳🇻🇳. | *40- 45?? | Set of 4 Fusion Butter Knives or 20-Piece Flatware Set $104.95. |
| BOSI Quality SUS420J2 Stainless Steel 🇨🇳 Mainland China | 40-50??? | 190mm Sharp Kitchen Scissors US $11.31 |
| 420 Stainless Steel that can be heat-treated to hardness of 50-53 | 50-53 | knife blades, cutlery, needle valves, shear blades, and surgical equipment and instruments. [3 – ssmfrs] |
| KAMIKOTO: SUS420J2 steel (Genten series) and SLD steel (Ganjo series). With a HRC of 53 +/-2, the Genten series offers the benefits of a practical, highly corrosion-resistant blade. 🇨🇳 Made in China. | 53 +/-2 | Knitting needles, loom reeds, spinning machines, doctor blades, blades, rulers, soldering irons, scrapers, HDD drive components, bearings, and various springs. [1 -Tokkin] |
| SMART WIFE: SUS420J2 steel, 🇨🇳 Made in Guangdong, China. | 53 +/-2 | Alibaba knife, found in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China: 100 – 499 pieces/$3.49, 500 – 999 pieces/$3.18, and 1000 pieces/$2.89. |
| SAKAI TAKAYUKI: TUS High carbon stainless steel. 🇯🇵 Made in Japan. | **59 | This is a proprietary stainless steel by Aoki Hamono, made in Japan. It’s a balance between being corrosion resistant and not being a soft like a butter knife. |
| FUJIWARA KANEFUSA – HA (FKH) series is made of Hitachi SK-4 Japanese high carbon steel. The material allows for extreme sharpness, and it is very good at holding an edge with a high working hardness. 🇯🇵 Made in Japan. | 58-59 | JIS SK4 Steel is a carbon tool steel. SK4 is equivalent with AISI W1A-9(1/2) UNS T72301, GB T10 and DIN C105W2 | 1.1645 Tool Steel. SK4 Tool Steel consists of chromium, molybdenum and vanadium and is known for its high hardenability and great toughness. [4 – Otai Steel] |
| TOJIRO: Shirogami (White #2) Carbon Steel (Carbon (C) 1.05–1.15%, Silicon (Si) 0.1–0.2%, Manganese (Mn) 0.2–0.3%). 🇯🇵 Made in Japan. | 60-61 | It is one of the most commonly used steels in the manufacture of Japanese knives. [2 -Eurotechni] |
| ISEYA: G Series is 33 Layer Nickel Damascus Stainless Steel, VG-10 Core. A stainless steel with a high carbon content containing 1% Carbon, 15% Chromium, 1% Molybdenum, 0.2% Vanadium, and 1.5% Cobalt. 🇯🇵 Made in Japan. | 60-61 | A cutlery grade stainless steel. “Was originally aimed at Japanese chefs, but also found its way into sports cutlery viz. Spyderco and Kizer have produced some of their most popular models from VG-10” – via Wikipedia.org |
| SHUN: Proprietary VG-MAX steel cutting cores with 16° double-bevel blades (32° comprehensive), full composite tangs and 68 total layers of stainless Damascus cladding on each knife. 🇯🇵 Made in Japan. | 60-62 | In general, Shun hardens VG10 and VG-Max steel to 60-61 Rockwell and SG2 to 61-62. An increase of 1 degree Rockwell equates to an increase in hardness of about 10% as well as an increase in edge-holding ability. These degrees of hardness enable Shun knives to be thin, hard, and precise without being overly brittle. |
| MIYABI: Black 5000MCD67 / MC66: micro-carbide powdered steel. 🇯🇵(🇩🇪) Made in Japan. | 66 | A high-end Japanese stainless steel manufactured by Hitachi following the latest Powder Metallurgy technology (it is the same as ZDP-189 and similar to Cowry-X by Daido) |
Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself, and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. So a big fat thank you to everybody who does purchase through my affiliate links because it is very much appreciated.
Kamikoto vs. a Highest’ess’ess Quality Japanese Knife Set Comparison
I will provide you a Japanese slicing knife, utility (petty) knife, and a vegetable knife all by Japanese companies/brands.
Sorry, there is no certificate of “authenticity” like with the Kamikoto Kanpeki Knife Set. Although, you can support local artists on Etsy like Addison and Aria
I get it, it is sort of hard to tell if you are getting an authentic Kamikoto from China when there are so many look-a-like products on Aliexpress or made in China.com
Kamikoto should be providing a certificate of authenticity to their brand.
The Most Affordable Kamikoto Kanpeki knife Set Alternative
This list was handcrafted of high-quality pixels to highlight the craftsmanship of 70-80 year Japanese knifesmiths who reflect Japans geriatric working population.
Tojiro, Niigata, Japan
Est. 1953
Fujiwara Kanefusa, Seki City
26th generation
Sakai Takayuki, Sakai
Est. 1947
Seto Cutlery MFG Co.,Ltd, Seki City
Est. 1908
KAI/Shun, Seki City
Est. 1908
Tojiro
Tojiro knife manufactures knives in Niigata, Japan and was founded in 1953. Their corporate message is “More than just sharpness.” Also, there are some other brands that should take note of Tojiro’s four principles – good faith, sincerity, appreciation, and creation. Also, regardless how much or how little you spend, there are many affordable products that utilize the patented DP (Decarburization Prevention) method by Tojiro in which they also received a Good Design Award in Japan.
Fujiwara Kanefusa
The blade an average salaryman could afford from a 25 generations old Japanese swordsmith. The family has been utilizing the traditional production methods of Japanese swordsmiths from Seki city, Japan stretching back to the Muromachi era around 16th century.
Sakai Takayuki
This utility/petty knife represents the Sakai region, a region of Japan with 600 years of history. The parent company Aoki Hamono, cultivates several highly skilled craftsmen and blacksmiths, which is why they are the biggest knife maker in the region.
Tojiro
The Combination Waterstone with 1000/3000 grit is a professional quality sharpening stone that is perfect for ensuring accuracy and precision for your knives. The 1000 grit on one side has a middle grade coarseness great for sharpening and putting a cutting edge on your knife. The opposing side is a finer 3000 grit whetstone to put a super fine edge on your knife or what in the “biz” they call “polishing”.
Iseya
The feature of ISEYA is in their ultra-sharp durable edge made by carefully forging and polishing through the timeless-traditional techniques espoused by Mr. Yoshinori Seto. Combined with being in Seki city, a city with 800 years of bladesmithing.
If you insist on a box vs a knife block or rack, check out Etsy.
The Silliest Comparison, Kamikoto vs. Shun or Miyabi
I mean this is hilarious that people think that Kamikoto is even close to Shun or any of the above Japanese or German companies is ridiculous. Although if you compare a 4-piece butter knife set for $32 to Kamikoto, that will be more on par.
You can watch this YouTube video by Paolo of one of those Germans brands I was speaking of. He features a day in the life of Nene, a 24 year old Japanese female knife technician at Zwilling J.A. (obviously their Miyabi line) – another good vid, except by LWIF is on Japanese knife makers in Echizen. Whereas Kamikoto, are a bunch of twenty-somethings that are running an e-commerce company all about getting likes and working with social media influencers (please, like and subscribe).
Shun
Since the 13th century, Seki City has been the heart of the Japanese cutlery industry. For more than 112 years, it has also been the home of the KAI Corporation, the makers of Shun fine cutlery. The parent company also owns Kershaw and Zero Tolerance Knives (both made in Tualatin, Oregon USA).
Or one German/Japanese knife by:
Miyabi (Zwilling)
$49 more than the Chinese made knives made of SUS420J2 vs. a Miyabi 7″ santoku micro-carbide powdered MC66 steel blade, which is ice-hardened to an impressive 66 HRC. This results in an exceptionally sharp and lasting edge. The blade is wrapped in 132 additional layers of steel, resulting in a beautiful flower damascus pattern.
The Conclusion of Kamikoto 🇫🇮 🇭🇰🇫🇷 vs. Shun 🇯🇵 (a Scam or Worth it)
I was in an industry where our brake system, for a front set was upwards of $4k or $8k for a complete set (easily up to $40k, and no, it does not include the car).
Kamikoto is a gimmicky marketing brand that may feel like “a dishonest scheme,” aka a scam because they pretend to be Japanese with a cheap Chinese knife in a fancy box. Except, bargain hunters are more than willing to buy into Galton Voysey’s direct to consumer (D-T-C) marketing, the people behind Kamikoto.
The world is filled with these types because at the end of the day, they are all about the money (they know the average consumer is beneath them).
No matter how much more superior the product was to lesser marketing brands, the bargain hunters would always justify their overpriced inferior marketing brands.
So I do not expect to budge the deal lovers from a supposed deal, and I am here for the data-driven foo’s that know value, like the douche who wrote this. Also, the most ridiculous comment I heard about the pricing “how are we supposed to afford it, if you don’t make it cheap.” I couldn’t comment back, but I would have said: “not everybody has yachts for the same reason” #facepalm #entitlement.
I seriously did not know how wide of a quality margin there would be till I put this piece together.
The shocking part was that my curated Japanese knife set was nearly $130 cheaper, and the Shun set was only $73 more. If you read through everything, you will know how the Kamikoto バターナイフset (is a batānaifu equivalent) is grossly overpriced.
I think the guesstimate cost of the Kamikoto knife set is about $32-45? I also highly suggest buying ONE knife for your intended usage, not a set (Kamikoto is appealing to “more is better”).
If you go read the shun.kaiusa.com website, this is the brand that Kamikoto set their sites on and has modeled themselves after.
Also, one last bit on why I do this content (the point of my blog): I am Japanese American 🏴☠️, and up till high school, I grew up in a predominately white area of the United States. So I heard it all, “gook,” “ching chong,” “Jap,” and “go back to your country” even though I am a 4th generation American. Along with all the Fear Factor-like reactions or comedy bits about Japanese food being scary or fish bait. Now sushi is sold in gas stations and local markets.
Decades later, Japanese culture has increased in popularity globally, and up pops Finnish and French chick in Hong Kong to cash in on Japanese culture. These two lack the principles of integrity and honesty, so they have no issue using Japanese culture for their gain with their “$1,505 retail price” (when have they ever sold at that price?) Chinese knives marketed under the guise of being Japanese. What next, pretending to be black-owned?
The second insult: is that I spent the last two decades of my life building some of the most well-known and famous brands in the automotive aftermarket, and I can tell you, none were built on deceit and lies (I grew up with a liar, so I go ballistic on bullsh*tters).
I say this all the time, there is nothing wrong with Chinese made products (I seek out Anker, a company out of Changsha, Hunan, China), just an issue with the brands/individuals who use deceptive marketing under the guise of being Japanese.
Resources
- Tokkin – Martensitic Stainless Steel (SUS420J2,RB-S)
- EuroTechni – Hitachi Shirogami 2 white paper steel
- Stainless Steel Manufacturers – 420 Stainless Steel
