MIYABIKaizen 4 1/2-Inch Paring Knife

The knife came perfectly sharp and without a flaw. However I wish the width of the blade was much narrower ... half the present width. It's very difficult to turn the knife when the blade is embedded in, let's say, a piece of fruit. I have a very old, inexpensive paring knife that has a narrow blade and it's incredibly maneuverable. Unfortunately the steel dulls too quickly because it's a cheap knife. I looked on line and all the knives with good steel have big bellies.

I am a professional chef. I replaced my 8" chef knife with a Miyabi Koh. I loved it immediately. I have been purchasing Zwilling/Henckel knives for 40+ years. The Miyabi brand of theirs is awesome. I purchased the Miyabi Kaizen 5" pairing knife because I needed something a little bigger than my Zwilling 4". It comes out of the box so sharp you can shave with it. The grip is extremely comfortable, the knife is light & the offset handle is great for knuckle clearance. I would recommend the entire Miyabi line to anyone. I will be purchasing more.

feels good in your hand, nice and light with good edge contour and sharpness retention. 4-1/4" inches is a good size for the majority of things outside of chopping

If you've never owned a high-quality Japanese knife and love to cook, you're really missing out. For years, I have had a full set of W*hof pro knives and there is no comparison. The reason is simple: High quality Japanese knives have a different grinding angle. In the Myabi's case, I believe it's around 12 degrees and my German knives are about twice that. In learning about this knife, I also learned more about sharpening and no longer use my W*hof sharpener. It's the wrong angle for this new knife and it never seemed to do much good anyway. So I'm using an inexpensive sharpening stone kit (again Japanese) that I found on Amazon. As for this knife itself, it's an incredibly useful size that is a frequent go to instead of my often too-small paring knives. The shape works really well for slicing and chopping. It feels great in the right hand because of the asymmetrical handle shape. It is a work of art and makes me smile when I grab it out of my knife block.

First thing I noticed was just how pretty this knife is. The fit and quality of this knife is second to none. Very comfortable in the hand. I've never seen such a sharp knife from the manufacturer. So far the edge just keeps going and going. I touch it up with a steel occasionally. It is by far the most amazing knife I have ever used. Very pleased with the purchase!