Atsushi Hosokawa-san and Takashi Hosokawa-san, a father and son, are the two blacksmiths behind Gihei knives. While the Hosokawas enjoy working with traditional high carbon steel, they recognize that many folks would prefer a high-performance blade that won't rust easily. This drove them to seek out steel that would offer the best of both worlds. HAP40 and ZDP189 steels are extremely unconventional in the world of blacksmithing, yet both are considered to be 'super steels'. Both are extremely hard, to the point that most blacksmiths can't even forge with them. The Hosokawas are exceptional for their ability to work with these unusual materials, and the superhuman perseverance it took to master forging them paid off: the hardness and ‘wear resistance’ of these steels allow kitchen knives made from them to retain their edge longer than any other line I’ve seen. While this also makes them more challenging to sharpen, their mind-blowing performance is well worth it. About the Shape - Inspired by the profile of a traditional European chef knife, gyutos are a multi-purpose Japanese knife with a slight meat cutting bias and “gyuto” even translates to “cow sword”. If you want one knife to do it all, This is it. The longer blade typically gives the blade a forward balance that allows it to work for you. While the blade would ideally be slid forward or back while cutting, they are also great for folks that prefer to 'rock' their knife while cutting.