Table of Contents
About Kamikoto
Kamikoto crafts its high-grade knives from Japanese steel using an ancient method. Yielding durable blades with superior sharpness, its knives are finished with a minimalistic handle for a look that means business.
Featured in Business Wire, PR NewsWire, Screen Rant, Conde Nast Traveler, and many other notable publications, the brand has been said to have introduced the western world to a piece of traditional Japanese culture.
It has almost 80k followers on Instagram, a page that’s decked out in black shadows and highlighted by gleams of shining steel.
This Kamikoto knife review will take a close look at the brand, its bestsellers, customer reviews, deals, FAQs, and more, to help you decide if they’re the right choice for your kitchen.
Overview of Kamikoto
Japan is a place with deep cultural roots and extensive knowledge of knife and sword-making.
When the founders of Kamikoto set out to create the brand’s first set of knives, they wanted to make them worthy. The goal was to develop a product that their families and friends would value and trust in their own Japanese kitchens.
Take a look at Kamikoto’s 19 step blade-making process and you’ll understand how these fierce products look and perform the way they do.
Each blade is meticulously and painstakingly crafted. And, after production, inspected three times before being sent out of the factory.
Using ancient techniques, Kamikoto blades are forged from steel that was sourced from Honshu Island in Japan.
Using shockingly high heats to strengthen the blade and decrease its flexibility, the knives are then sharpened with a single-beveled edge for a traditional Japanese feel.
Headquartered, made, and forged in Japan, the company sends some of its knives to China for sharpening and further production. Before I get into exactly what the brand has to offer, my Kamikoto Knife review will fill you in on its highlights.
Highlights
- Wide selection of knife sets and singles
- 19-step manufacturing process
- Loved by many Michelin star chefs
- Multiple customers report they are the best blades they’ve ever owned
- Impressive discounts currently available
- Ships worldwide
- Lifetime Warranty
- 60-Day return policy
Kamikoto’s minimalist aesthetic matches the simplistic yet powerful nature of its knives. The duality of the shiny blades with the uncomplicated black handles shows us that they’re here for a purpose: to work.
In the next section of this Kamikoto knife review, I’ll take you on a journey through the brand’s diverse sets before showing you its most popular blade.
Kamikoto Knife Set Review
The company’s knives are mostly made by the shoreline in Tokyo, Japan, using techniques passed down through generations.
This Kamikoto knife review will feature the brand’s best-selling sets, ranging from those specially made for meat slicing to expansive collections that help you excel in the tasks before you.
Kamikoto Knife Set Review
Featuring a trio of prep and from-scratch kitchen staples, the Kamikoto Knife Set helps you to stick to deadlines in the kitchen.
The razor-sharp single-bevel Kata-ha blades are made from Japanese steel, a dependable construction that delivers on quality and performance. This set includes three blades:
- 5” Utility Knife
- 7” Nakiri Knife
- 8.5” Slicing Knife
To help you conquer tough jobs, add the Kamikoto Knife Set to your collection for $197 (normally $272).
Kamikoto Kanpeki Knife Set Review
This set takes you from start to finish with the prep process. Starting with the 7” Nakiri vegetable knife, feel the balanced weight in your hand as you easily glide through chopping tasks.
Take things up a notch with the 8.5” Slicing Knife, gliding through meat and fish effortlessly, before using the 5” Utility knife to do detail-work like trimming artichokes.
For a limited time, you can buy one of these three-blade sets and get another for free.
With a value of $2,590, right now, you can get both sets for an astonishing $272—that’s just $136 each.
Kamikoto Kensei Knife Set Review
Combining two powerhouses, the Kensei Knife Set will propel you through detailed kitchen work like filleting, boning, and fine vegetable slicing.
This set includes the 5” Boning Knife, a light and easy-to-handle blade to tackle technical jobs. As well as the balanced, 9.5” Kiritsuke Knife to maneuver larger projects.
Both come in a beautiful ash wood box for storage. Get this versatile Kamikoto Kensei set for $213.
Kamikoto Kuro Series Knife Set Review
A necessity set for the avid home chef, the Kuro Series Knife Set contains an assortment of three beautiful blades to help you excel in a multitude of jobs in the kitchen. Their matte black finish ensures they look stunning displayed in your kitchen, too. You’ll receive:
- 7” Santoku
- 6.5” Nakiri
- 5” Utility Knives
This essential set is a beautiful collection for budding and experienced chefs alike. The Kuro series blades are made from zirconium dioxide, resulting in the hardest tool the brand has ever made.
The choice of chefs, this Kamikoto Japanese knife set is $258 (normally $500).
Kamikoto Steak Knives Review
The quality of our meal depends as much on the ingredients as the tools we use. These Steak Knives have a non-serrated edge, a feature that allows the texture of the meat to stay together and the juices to stay inside.
Sharpened to an 11-degree angle, the Steak Knives have a beautifully polished look with a shiny black handle, suitable for any dinner table. You’ll receive four knives that are packaged in a handcrafted wooden box. Get this meal-enhancing set for $249.
Kamikoto 13-inch Yanagiba Review
Open the handcrafted ash wood box to reveal your beautiful, single-bevel 13-inch Yanagiba blade. Made from Japanese Honshu steel heated over 3092°F, one look tells you this knife is something special, something created from a long history of tradition.
Though the blade is astounding on its own, right now, it comes with a set of four double-bevel Ryoba blade steak knives. Sharp enough to not require serration, these knives cut through tough and tender meat like champions.
Nestled in their own wooden box, this set makes a beautiful gift for yourself or your loved ones. This special offer is $238 (a value of $766).
Kamikoto The Complete Collection Review
Reinvent the way you cook with The Complete Collection. For serious knife-owners, this elite collection is an array of all of Kamikoto’s knife sets, each one meticulously crafted and carefully placed inside an ash wood box.
We’ll list each of the Kamikoto Japanese chef knife sets below so you know exactly what you’re getting:
- Kanpeki Knife Set
- 5” Utility knife
- 7” Nakiri vegetable knife
- 8.5” Slicing knife
- 7.5” Chuka Bocho Cleaver
- Senshi Knife Set
- 5.5” Utility Knife
- 7” Santoku knife
- 10” Chef knife
- Wooden Display Stand
- Ryoshi Knife Set
- 7.5” Deba
- 10” Yanagiba
- Kensei Knife Set
- 6.5” Boning knife
- 9.5” Kiritsuke knife
- 13” Yanagiba
- Steak Knife Set (4)
- 5” Steak Knives
Plus a Toishi Sharpening Whetstone, a Grit Sharpening Stone (both 1000/3000 grit), and a bamboo stand to display it all in. Purchase this extensive, jaw-dropping collection of Kamikoto chef knife sets for $861—a normal price of $7,591!
Kamikoto Knife Review
The Kamikoto knife is a next-level tool that will take your prep work to new heights. Below, you’ll read the shining details of the brand’s best-selling knife of all time.
Kamikoto 7-inch Nakiri Vegetable Knife Review
Kamikoto’s signature 7-inch Nakiri Vegetable Knife is known and loved for its superior sharpness and long-lasting Japanese steel construction. Pick this substantial single-bevel Kata-ha blade up and you’ll feel its dominating presence.
Designed for straight-down cuts, this chopper is an excellent tool for dicing vegetables and herbs. Accompanied by an ash wood box, this hand-sharpened Kamikoto Japan steel knife is $205.
How do you sharpen Kamikoto knives?
You’ll need to purchase a whetstone to sharpen your Kamikoto knives. Due to their sharp, angled single-beveled edge, regular knife sharpeners will do more damage than good. Some think using a whetstone is intimidating, but the process is really quite simple.
- Soak your whetstone in water for 10 minutes or until there are no more bubbles
- Put the whetstone on your countertop, coarse grit side up, on top of a non-slip surface
- Position your knife at a 10-15-degree angle
- Slide your knife across the stone at a 45-degree angle (diagonally down)
- Keep wetting the stone as you sharpen
- Flip the stone over to the finer grit side and repeat the process
How do you cut with a Kamikoto knife?
Use your Kamikoto knives intentionally. Cut in smooth motions directly down, following through with each cut.
There are a few different types of blades, so depending on which one you use, your cute stroke will be different. But, whichever one you are using, always be sure to cut with purpose.
What angle are Kamikoto knives?
Kamikoto knives are Japanese blades, with much finer edges than other types of blades. Most Japanese knives have an angle of 10-15-degrees.
Kamikoto Reviews: What Do Customers Think?
These knives certainly look promising, but to figure out whether they’re worth your time and hard-earned cash, we want to know what customers think.
In this section, we’ve compiled a few insightful testimonials. Keep reading this Kamikoto knives review to see what they said.
First off, the Kanpeki Knife Set is rated 4.9/5 stars by 179 Amazon customers.
In terms of a breakdown, 93% of shoppers gave this bundle a 4 or 5-star rating, while just 2% gave it 1. Quite a few customers say these are the best knives they have ever owned and talk about their extreme sharpness.
One Kamikoto Knife review reads, “These knives are great. Very sharp and sturdy and comfortable in my small hands…I use them daily and they still haven’t dulled or rusted.” How a knife fits in your hand is very important, so it’s good to know these ones are comfortable.
But there are some Amazon customers who found the Kanpeki Knife Set to be of poor quality. One said, “They are soft steel, need constant resharpening and the edge geometry is worthless.” This is quite different from others’ reviews, so we wonder what went wrong here.
A review on In Johnny’s Kitchen reviewed the Kanpeki Knife Set (which appears to be its most popular set, or the one most people choose to review).
Of the overall handling experience of the blades he wrote, “All three knives feel sturdy and reliable. The handles are smooth and seamlessly go over to the blade. From a tactile point of view, I expect that they will serve well for years to come.”
A quality knife that will last a while is a pretty decent deal considering the price.
The review didn’t bring up many downsides about the brand’s knives, but it did say this: “For some reason, I really quickly had some discoloration on the small utility knife. Even after washing the blade with dishwashing liquid and a sponge, it seemed to stay kind of stained.”
Though this doesn’t mess with its quality or performance, staining doesn’t look professional.
Kamikoto has 4.6/5 stars on Trustpilot, awarded to it by 344 shoppers. Responses are quite positive, with just 7% of customers reporting a “bad” experience.
Happy customers say these knives have the “perfect weight,” slice “like butter,” and that “the service is very good.” Others have remarked at the great customer service as well, something we’re happy to read as we haven’t come across mention of it on other websites.
The complaints are minimal, but they have to do with the quality of the blades received or, on occasion, absent customer service. One Kamikoto Knife review reads, “once I opened the box the cleaver was not straight, half of the knife was curved.”
The brand followed this up with a sincere apology and a note that they were sending an immediate replacement.
If every Kamikoto blade is inspected three times, it’s a wonder why mistakes such as the last one pass through. We grant grace to any brand that messes up from time to time, but we don’t want to be lied to as customers.
Though these cases are rare, they’re still worth mentioning but they don’t interfere with our overall perception of the brand’s and blades’ quality.
Is Kamikoto Worth It?
When looking at the MSRP for Kamikoto knives, the discount they’re offered seems like quite the shock. You may be getting an incredible deal, or you may be getting scammed.
The latter is what many outsiders who haven’t tried the brand’s knives think. But those who use them know what a deal they’re getting.
You can thank the price drop to the brand’s switch in sales methods. Retracting its knives from retailers and offering them completely online allows them to sell them for a small fraction of the cost.
Not to mention that hundreds of customers attest to the quality of these products. Shoppers report that the brand’s knives are of the highest quality, durable, and last a long time.
Made with Japanese steel, forged in Japan, and inspected rigorously, we believe Kamikoto knives to be high quality and worth the buy. Plus, they come with a lifetime warranty and a pretty cool handcrafted box.
Kamikoto Promotions & Discounts
Once you hop onto Kamikoto’s website, you’ll instantly see the special offers it has available. And for a second, we couldn’t believe our eyes. Not to over embellish here, but there are some drastic price cuts.
On top of the low prices for select items, those items also are shipped for free.
During this Kamikoto Knives review, we also found that the company gives customers 10% off their first order when signing up to the mailing list.
Where to Buy Kamikoto
You used to be able to find the brand’s knives in chef shops and big retailers, but it’s since switched to online-only sales through Kamikoto.com.
FAQ
Where do Kamikoto knives ship from?
We came across a review that says the brand ships from Ogden, Utah. This is apparently one of its warehouses in the US, but the company might have others, too.
Are Kamikoto knives made in China?
Kamikoto knives are forged in Japan. We have read that certain blades (after forging) are shipped from Japan to China for sharpening. So they are part Japanese, part Chinese-made.
Where are Kamikoto knives made?
Kamikoto knives are made in Niigata, Japan. Although some sources say certain blades are made in Yijjang, China.
How long do Kamikoto knives take to ship?
Orders take about 24 hours to process and will arrive in about 3-10 business days from the time you get your shipping confirmation email.
Can you return Kamikoto knives?
If you are unhappy with your Kamikoto purchase for any reason, you can return it within 60 days. To start a return, send the company an email and its team will tell you what to do next.
You’ll have the choice of sending your order back to Tokyo, Japan, or one of the brand’s warehouses (not specified).
How to Contact Kamikoto
We hope that you found all of the information you needed in this Kamikoto Knife review.
If you need answers to any other questions not addressed here, you can get in touch with the brand’s Client Relationship Manager, Tsuyoshi Inagaki, by using the following methods:
- Email: [email protected]
- Contact Form: Available on the brand’s site
Need more high-quality tools for your kitchen? Here are a few brands you can trust:
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