When thinking about Japanese blades, you are forgiven if samurai swords spring to mind. However, a more everyday version of Japan’s famous swords have begun to infiltrate our homes: Japanese kitchen knives.

Highly appreciated by international chefs, the appeal of these lighter, sharper and stronger knives is now spreading amongst home cooks. As they also last decades longer than the competition, they’re well worth the investment.

Kai Shun is the world’s leading super premium knife brand whose manufacturing philosophy is (oddly enough!) based on the centuries old art of Japanese Samurai sword forging.

In search of the best, we’ve asked Kazuomi Ota, head chef at the Hi Hotel in Nice, for three of his favourites.