Chef Knife for 11 year old girl passionate about japanese knifes

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Joined
Feb 12, 2022
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Hello,

I absolutely love your forum—it's a treasure trove of information!

I'm in search of a knife and could use some help, please. It's intended as a gift for my best friend's daughter.

She's based in France.

Let's begin with a chef's knife.

She's right-handed.

The knife isn't for professional use.

Regarding the budget, let's cap it at 100 euros (though it's not a problem if it costs a little more).

Now, you might find this cute—she's 11 years old, utterly passionate about cooking! She loves learning how to chop vegetables and watches numerous YouTube videos on the subject.

As she has quite small hands and stands at 1.50 meters tall (about 5 feet), I'm thinking something in the Japanese style would be ideal (she adores this style), but definitely-maybe not with a high-carbon blade. What are your thoughts?

I'm totally open to any suggestions you may have.

Thank you in advance!
 
Lovely idea!

I do have a 195mm Masakane Vintage SK Gyuto with Tagayasan Handle (No Bolster), „produced around 1990's“. So, the knife is probably 3 times as old as she is…

I am the original owner, bought the knife from Tosho, have used it 3 times only, and I am based in EU. Knife new cost 75$ plus the same in shipping plus customs. In total the knife cost me 153€. I would sell for 100 Euros shipped.

It is carbon, though, and maybe a bit too big for her at the moment?! Maybe not, I don’t know.

Please reach out through PM if interested.
 
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At 11, a high-carbon blade would present many valuable opportunities to learn life lessons about
  • the philosophy of wabi-sabi
  • the inevitability of patina
  • the anxiety of rust
  • recovering from rust
  • how to care for your own things
  • emotional resilience for coping with situations when the people around you did not take care of your things as well as you believe you would have.
 
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If she's willing to try carbon knives KnifeJapan has some great options
If there is any worry about accidentally poking someone while moving about the kitchen, a nakiri (as @blokey suggested) or something similar with a square tip like this should reduce those worries

https://knifejapan.com/fukamizu-hamono-kuri-no-kawamuki-75mm-shirogami-2/
In a decade or two when she leaves home she will take this with her as a cheese knife. She will use it in that capacity for the rest of her life, until, one day, it passes to her own daughters.
 
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