Hinoki

Hinoki

Hinoki takes its name from the pale Japanese cypress traditionally used for cutting boards and bath tubs — a wood prized for being light, clean and quietly beautiful. That is the feeling we wanted from this range: a knife that looks like morning light on a worktop, and disappears into your hand while you use it.

Every Hinoki blade is built around a VG10 stainless core clad in 67 layers of Damascus steel. The hard core holds a fine edge; the softer outer layers absorb the shocks of daily use, so the blade stays sharp without becoming brittle. Folding the steel that many times leaves a flowing feather pattern across the face of each knife — no two come out exactly alike, which is the point.

The handles are turned from pale blond wood with an oval section, finished with a thin red spacer and a polished steel cap at the butt. They are deliberately light. A heavy handle feels impressive for ten minutes and tiring after an hour; Hinoki is balanced for the second hour. Each knife arrives in its own solid wooden scabbard, so it can live in a drawer without blunting itself or catching a finger.

Where to start

If you buy one Hinoki knife, make it the 8″ Gyuto — the Japanese chef's knife, and the blade most cooks reach for by instinct. The 7″ Santoku is its shorter, flatter cousin and suits anyone who chops more than they rock. Add the 7″ Nakiri if vegetables are most of your prep, the 4″ Paring knife for everything fiddly, and the 10″ Bread knife for anything with a crust. The five- and ten-piece sets bring the whole range together with a diamond sharpening steel.

Looking after them

Hand wash, dry straight away, and keep them off glass and stone boards. They are ground fine for clean cutting, not for bone or frozen food. Hone between uses and give them a whetstone a few times a year, and a Hinoki knife will outlast the kitchen you bought it for.