Japanese Knives (Santoku or Gyuto)

Hello all,

I'm travelling to Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto) soon and was hoping I could ask for some advice regarding what knife to purchase.

I've been using an extremely high quality 5" utility knife (was gifted to me by a family member) for most of my needs so far, I find it excellent for dicing onions/tomatoes/small vegetables.

Unfortunately it's not very effective at slicing boneless chicken/beef. I've been saving for the past 12 months and would like to purchase a high quality long lasting carbon steel knife (something that will last me decades) that would fill the gap in my kitchen. I understand high carbon steel requires care in regard to cleaning/storage, this isn't a significant concern as I treat all of my knives well regardless. My main concern is my lackluster sharpening ability, I'm worried that I might ruin a high quality knife attempting to sharpen it so I feel I should take this account into my purchase (Since most high quality knives require careful sharpening, any advice/tips for sharpening would be greatly appreciated)

Can anyone recommend an excellent life long chefs knife/santoku/gyuto that's 6" to 10" suitable for slicing boneless chicken/beef efficiently. For small vegetables I have my utility knife.

My preference is a traditional Japanese knife even though the price will be significantly higher over something like Victorinox. (my price range is $80-$300USD)

Welcome to the forum.

There is a "Which Knife?" questionnaire in the Kitchen Knife subforum. If you copy/paste and fill it out you will get recommendations tailored to your requirements.

You don't have to go to Japan to get an excellent Japanese knife. But I can certainly see how that would be part of a great trip.

If he is going to japan anyway... is it good or bad advice to "just go to a reputed knife store and tell them what you want to do with it and what your working style is?"