8" Santoku Knife

I'm a Misen fan. I have their pans, utensils, entire knife set and holder. The quality of their products is very high. The feel and weight of their knives are excellent.

But, after a year of use, one of the knives broke about 7mm from the tip. I was cutting a boneless chicken breast into cubes on a cutting board, with very little pressure on the tip, and it snapped. I've been buying pro-quality knives for 30 years and take care of my cooking tools - this is the first time I've ever had a tip snap.

It's a brittle fracture probably due to a small crack that was present during manufacture.

Good sharp knives are often brittle, that's why they take an edge so well and why you never pry things open with a good knife, but this knife has never seen that kind of abuse so this failure is unexpected. A brittle fracture like this, with zero edge deformation, is rare even in knifes with brittle blades.

Again, I'm a fan of Misen, but just be aware that it appears they can be a bit more brittle than you may be expecting. They appear to be more like a Japanese-style knife vs. a German-style that is a bit more ductile and takes more effort to set a good edge when sharpening.