The Japanese word Gyuto (牛刀) literally translates as beef sword. The gyuto is the equivalent of the Western chef's knife and is designed to cut everything: vegetables, meat and fish. It is made to be used with the “push-cut” method, lifting the blade between each cutting movement, or with the pendulum method. It is important that the blade is straight on impact with the cutting board to avoid damage to the knife edge.
The town of Sanjo in Niigata prefecture has been famous for its blacksmithing since the 1600s. In the early years, nails were mainly forged by hand. Then, from 1660, different forging techniques were introduced by blacksmiths from Aizu. As a result, the town's blacksmiths began to diversify their production. The quality of Sanjo's tools and knives enjoyed a strong reputation in Japan, and continues to do so today.
SLD steel is Hitachi steel co.'s version of SKD-11, a wear-resistant and relatively easy-to-maintain steel. This makes it ideal for workhorse knives. With a hardness of 60-62 HRC, SLD steel blades retain their edge for a very long time, and can be sharpened to a razor-sharp edge. Basically, SLD is used in factories to cut other steels and, over time, has found its way into high-end Japanese cutlery.