Atsushi Hosokawa-san and Takashi Hosokawa-san, a father and son, are the two blacksmiths behind Gihei knives. While the Hosokawas enjoy working with traditional high carbon steel, they recognize that many folks would prefer a high-performance blade that won't rust easily. This drove them to seek out steel that would offer the best of both worlds.

HAP40 and ZDP189 steels are extremely unconventional in the world of blacksmithing, yet both are considered to be 'super steels'. Both are extremely hard, to the point that most blacksmiths can't even forge with them. The Hosokawas are exceptional for their ability to work with these unusual materials, and the superhuman perseverance it took to master forging them paid off: the hardness and ‘wear resistance’ of these steels allow kitchen knives made from them to retain their edge longer than any other line I’ve seen. While this also makes them more challenging to sharpen, their mind-blowing performance is well worth it.

About the Shape - A Nakiri is a vegetable knife. Under utilized in the Western kitchen, the Nakiri’s flat blade is meant for the push/pull chopping of vegetables. Since the entire flat edge of the knife kisses the cutting board at once, you won't be turning the vegetable into an accordion. Accordion vegetables are still connected like a paper doll after you're “done” cutting them. To truly understand the awesomeness of a Nakiri we recommend making onion soup your first night with the knife. The ease of chopping will blow you away.