At Katto, we live, work, and are based in the UK. The workshop where our products are made sits in Sheffield, the digital team work from our London studio. But we use Japanese steel. It is a reasonable question therefore to ask, why the incongruence?
There are two answers to this question. The first is seated within the logical left-brain, and the second’s home is within the emotional right-side of the brain. Let's dig in.
Left Brain Thinking: Why is Japanese steel so good?
Let’s start logically. In essence, it’s the quality of Japanese steel that has solidified itself as our sole and resolute choice for our knives. The Japanese have been making steel for centuries, dating back to around the fifth century, but most notably in 700AD in the Yamato Province. This was the time of the great and legendary smith, Amakuni Yasutsuna, who created what is widely believed to be the first single-edged sword (known as the ‘tachi’), birthing the venerated Samurai sword.
Fast forward hundreds of years of technological advancements in smithery and knife making, and Japan remains one of the global centres of excellence in developing steel and manufacturing blades. This is particularly true in a city called Seki, within the prefecture of Gifu, in central Honshu, Japan’s main island. This is where we source our steel.
When choosing a steel to use for a knife, there’s a Venn diagram consisting of hardness, sharpness, and ease of care and maintenance. The trick is in selecting a steel that best caters to these three variables. For example, the harder a blade is, the sharper its edge can become. The downside, however, is that hard steel tends to be more brittle, meaning it’s much more at risk of chipping, which can make it onerous to look after properly – especially in a domestic kitchen. Of course, softer blades are less prone to chipping, but they dull far quicker.
After a great deal of deliberation and (constructive) arguments, we settled on Japanese AUS-10 steel, which achieves that harmonious balance of rigidity and ease of care. AUS-10 is an impressive, high-carbon stainless steel that is, for us, the best type of steel for knives.
Carbon steel vs. Stainless steel
Carbon steel is often thought to be the more traditional material used in making Japanese knives. Our decision to use a high carbon stainless steel instead of carbon steel came from understanding the environment of our knives’ intended use. A home cook can assume the role of saucier, commis, and head chef simultaneously, dealing with all the tasks from prep to plating. An easily maintainable blade that is far more resistant to rust will leave much more headspace to enjoy your cooking.
AUS-10 steel contains the elements vanadium, chromium, and molybdenum, which give it its stainless quality and a higher resistance to rust and corrosion than regular carbon steel. It also has a Rockwell hardness scale of 58-60, offering an impressive balance of rigidity without being brittle. So, in short: our knives don’t chip easily, they retain their edge for longer, are easier to look after, and are indisputably sharp.
Right Brain Feeling
Onto the emotional part of our brains: nostalgia. Our founder, Josh, grew up (like many other young westerners in the 90’s and 00’s) with his head buried in Japanese comics, TV shows, and books.
There’s no escaping the fact that when it came to choosing a steel for our blades, these strata-like layers of a teenage obsession and enchantment with the image of the Samurai and Japanese culture, were within our subconscious.
Be sure to explore our santokus, chef’s knives, and utility knives – all homages to this wonderful tradition and culture. You can learn more about our decision to use Japanese steel in the video below.