There is a hole in the handle, and once you have seen it you cannot unsee it. It is not decoration, and it is not even the strangest thing on the order page.
Affiliate link. Your price stays the same.
Matsato Osuren knife: the hole is a finger rest, and it moves where the blade pivots
Here is the plain answer to the thing you typed into the search box. The Matsato Osuren is a Japanese style chef knife, Santoku inspired, with a precision index finger hole cut through the blade just ahead of the handle. Your index finger goes through it. The vendor calls that superior control: your finger sits on the steel instead of behind it, so the knife pivots from your knuckle rather than your wrist. The blade is high quality stainless steel. The handle is pakka and acacia, a dark hardwood the vendor chose for grip. Each knife goes through what the company describes as a 138 step build, and is tested before it ships.
That is the product. You can see the current bundle prices on the official page in about ten seconds, but stay for the number, because there is one figure on that order form most people scroll straight past.
The knife in your drawer stopped working two years ago and you never noticed
Nobody throws out a dull knife. That is the whole problem. It goes by degrees: the tomato that squashes before it splits, the onion that slides sideways, the chicken breast that tears instead of cutting. So you press harder. You put your weight over the blade and push, the edge skates off the skin of a pepper, and for half a second your thumb is somewhere it should not be. You rinse it, put it back in the drawer, and cook the same dinner tomorrow with the same blunt thing.
Ask anyone who chops for an hour on a Sunday, prepping a week of soups or a tray of vegetables pulled from their own beds, and they all say the same thing. The hand gives up before the food is done. Not the knife. The hand.
Sharp knives usually die young, and the fix happens below minus 100 degrees
The tension here is old and honest, and the sales page states it out loud: some knives are sharp, but the sharpness has a price, because delicate edges chip, crack or rust. You have probably owned one of those, the gift knife that arrived terrifying and was ruined inside a year.
Matsato's answer is cold. They state that the blade steel is chilled below minus 100 degrees Celsius to form martensite, which they say raises toughness and wear resistance, and that the same treatment releases internal stress so the edge sits more stable in the cut. In their own words, that ice hardening is what keeps the knife sharp longer. It is their claim, not a verified test, but it is one of the few manufacturing details in this whole category with an actual figure attached to it. The handle wood, incidentally, is the same acacia and pakka family that hobbyists chase through woodworking plans: dense, dark, slow to drink water.
Josie, 5 January 2026, verified buyer
This is the review that tells you who the hole is really for. Josie, dated 5 January 2026 on the official page, writes that her hands are swollen and inflexible and that this knife is easy for her to manage. Stephen, 31 January 2026, warns in the same breath that it cut through everything it touched including his finger, so treat it as sharp out of the box. Diana, 23 January 2026, says it takes thin slices off a tomato and still gets through beef. The page shows a 4.4 rating from more than 16,000 reviews, and the vendor claims more than a million customers. Those are their published figures, and they are the only ones worth quoting.
If your hands are the reason you are reading this far, look at that grip on the official page before you decide anything else.
Now the number I promised: $234
The order page lists exactly three choices. One knife: $49.99, against a listed $83.32, so $33 off. Two knives: $34.99 each, $69.98 in total, $97 off. Four knives: $24.99 each, $99.96 in total, and the saving they print next to it is $234.
Read that ladder twice. The single knife is $49.99. The four pack is $99.96. Knives two, three and four cost $49.97 together, less than knife number one on its own. That is why the vendor says the four pack sells out first every time, and it is why Daniel, 3 January 2026, kept one and handed the rest out as gifts, and why Laura, 24 January 2026, ordered four more after the first.
Two practical things before you go. Every bundle carries a 60 day guarantee, stated on the page, and first orders are listed as coming with a free recipe book. The order form also describes the knives as auto delivered to your doorstep, so read your own selection before you confirm it, the same care you would give anything ongoing, like a food plan you intend to actually follow.
Take the hole seriously, because you have spent years asking your hand to do work the blade was supposed to do. Every Sunday you fight a blunt knife is a Sunday you agreed to fight it, and with the 60 day guarantee the only real risk is discovering you were right all along. Pick your bundle on the official page and let the first onion settle it.
We may earn a commission from the vendor if you buy through the links on this page, and it costs you nothing extra.
People also ask
What is the Matsato Osuren knife?
It is a Japanese style chef knife, Santoku inspired, with a precision index finger hole cut through the blade for grip and control. The blade is high quality stainless steel, the handle is pakka and acacia hardwood, and the vendor says each knife goes through a 138 step build and is tested before shipping.
What is the hole in the handle actually for?
You put your index finger through it. The vendor calls it a precision index finger hole for superior control, because your finger sits on the steel rather than behind it. One verified reviewer, Josie on 5 January 2026, writes that her hands are swollen and inflexible and the knife is still easy for her to manage.
How much does the Matsato Osuren knife cost?
The official order page lists one knife at $49.99 against a listed $83.32, two knives at $34.99 each ($69.98 total, $97 saving), and four knives at $24.99 each ($99.96 total, $234 saving). Prices and stock are the vendor's and can change, so check the page itself.
Is there a guarantee if I do not like it?
The order page states a 60 day guarantee on every bundle, and first orders are listed as including a free recipe book. The form also describes the knives as auto delivered to your doorstep, so read your selection carefully before confirming.