It is my own fault I should have read the description. I am a little disappointed with the quality of the handle. It is plastic. The Ken Onion knifes I got from Shun have a nice wooden handle and I expected the same quality materials (just a different design) from the rest of Shun's products. This is my initial impression upon receiving it. I just hope it actually cuts half way decently. It was 20% off at least. (even with the discount it seems over priced for the actual product, now that I have it in my hands.) So I will just have to consider it a lesson learned and cancel the other order I have with them.We’ve been slicing bread with a Henkel that we got as a wedding gift forty plus years ago. It was dull and would not sharpen. I looked at reviews and this Shun stood out, so I bought it. Expensive, yes, but I own several good Japanese knives and have many fine Japanese woodworking tools - I know you get unrivaled quality for the money. I am not disappointed- the knife glides through any bread (my wife is a professional baker - all our loaves need slicing). The handle is a bit cheesy - I might FEHA doe it in future - and my big hands find the handle petit. But that might be a plus for others. The blade is thin, but strong and sharp does not begin to describe the edge.This knife is very elegant and I love using it. It has a very sharp blade which is really nice to use and to look at. This knife will cleanly slice through bread like no other knife that I have ever used. The ergo's on the handle are extremely nice and it fits in hand really well. All in all this is very impressive knife. My only complaint (and why I gave it 4 stars and not 5) is with the flexibility of the blade. This knife and all of the other knives in the Shun Sora collection all make a scary sound when you flex them from side to side. I am not sure if it is coming from the handle or the blade itself. It sounds like the blade will snap in half if you flex it more than a few degrees to either side. This knife was not cheap and I am not willing to test the lateral strength of the blade to see if it will hold up to hard use. Granted it is a kitchen knife and not made for hard use but I feel that a kitchen knife has to be able to flex from side to side without fearing it will break.We have purchased Shun knives before and their products are awesome. When I received mine the packaging was a little damaged but not the knife inside. Overall it is a wonderful knife and I am looking forward to purchasing my wife more Shun knives in the future!Excelente cuchillo, fácil de usarPurchased for my son for Xmas. He likes Shun knivesThe finishing of the blade is impressive, and it's mirror polished, you can see the different layers; The handle is short (compared to my other Japanese knives). In my opinion, the blade is not well balanced and isn't razor sharpLove my knifeAmazon's Shun Sora knives are hands down the BEST kitchen knives you can buy on this website. Especially for the price and the name brand. They're high quality, high carbon steel, and super versatile. They're super sharp out of the box without a single fingerprint on the mirror polished metal. I would recommend these knives to everyone in the market who is looking for a high quality kitchen knife. True Shun quality - at an Amazon price. Unless you're a chef/hobbyist who knows what specifically you're looking for in terms of high end kitchen knives - you need not look further. They look, feel, and perform phenomenally. You need to hand wash these knives (yes, actually) and a whetstone to give these types of knives their proper maintenance (as required by useage) - I recommend a 1000/6000 grit whetstone to give the knife a good edge and nice light polish shine. Without proper maintenance your knife edges will rust, get beat up, and that sounds like a personal problem for you at that point. I could not be more pleased with these knives. I would definitely recommend these knives.Great bread knife