Heavy in the hand, but well-balanced. A beautiful paring knife like this should be one of the first kitchen tools you buy. The clad VG-10 slices so easily through veggies, and skins tough things like ginger, no problem. Holds its edge quite well, just use it, rinse, hang it on a magnet bar.

I bought a set of seven of these and I am enjoying the heck out of them; most luxurious kitchen knives I’ve ever owned. Coming from Spanish Henkels that were just meh. The Kyoku Shoguns are weighty, quite stout in the hand. The weight is a common complaint I am reading about these, however I love the heft of these. It screams quality construction. I suppose one possible downside is the handles get very slick when they are wet and dropping it could damage your floors (mine are made of wood), or worse yet your foot. But I nitpick…The Damascus in the steel is very light in appearance and subtle, but quite beautiful and tasteful. The handle design is superb in my opinion and fit my largish hands perfectly. These babies are ultra sharp out of the box. I suggest spending a few more bucks on a higher end cutting board and the VG10 blades should last quite a while without the need to resharpen. My touch up system is an oval diamond rod, but I haven’t needed to use it as of yet. When on sale, these knives are a sensational value. I don’t think you can go wrong with the Shoguns unless you enjoy lightweight cutting tools. These don’t fit that bill.