Global (cutlery)

Global

Type	Private Company
Industry	Kitchenware
Founded	1985; 33 years ago (1985)
Headquarters	Tsubame, Japan
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Minoru Tsuchida, Komin Yamada, Yuzo Watanabe
Products	Kitchen knives, accessories
Owner	Yoshida Metal Industry
Number of employees	96
Website	global-knife.com

Global is a Japanese brand of Kitchen Knives owned and manufactured by the Yoshikin factory of Japan (also known as the Yoshida Metal Industry Co. Ltd). Global knives were famous for their iconic design, new manufacturing methods and their cutting performance. The Yoshikin Factory, is owned by the Watanabe family and located in Tsubame, Japan.

Yoshida Metal Industry Co. Ltd. was established in 1954 as a western tableware manufacturer in Niigata prefecture famous for producing hollow handled table knives for Western markets. In 1960 Yoshikin introduced the Bunmei series of knives, traditional Japanese looking knives, that used a new alloy of steel, able to be sharpened like carbon steel, but with a mixture of molybdenum and vanadium that made the steel more resistant to rust (now known colloquially as Japanese steel). In 1983, Yoshikin hired a Japanese industrial designer, Komin Yamada, to create a modern designed knife that combined these two manufacturing techniques. With an almost unlimited budget he was able to fashion a series of kitchen knives which would appeal to the professional and amateur chef alike, be comfortable and easy to handle, and meet their most demanding requirements. In 1985 Global knives were then launched onto the international market, starting with Germany.

Compared to conventional European knives such as J. A. Henckels or Wusthof, Global knives are made from a significantly harder alloy of steel, use a thinner blade, and are ground to a narrower angle. The angle that is achieved is a steep 15°, this produces a sharper knife which keeps its edge longer and allows for more accurate work, but takes longer to sharpen when it becomes dull. Because of this, the manufacturer recommends using whetstones and ceramic sharpening rods as opposed to the European sharpening steel. In addition, Global knives are renowned for their light weight and even balance, a trait achieved by hollowing out the handle during production.

Global knives have a distinctive appearance with black dimples present on the handle and on one model of their storage block. Contrary to popular belief, Global Knives are made out of 2 pieces of metal and TIG welded together at the handle. With the handle being hollow and filled with sand.

Over the past decade the Global line has rapidly introduced many new highly specialized knife designs, including a tomato knife and a crab/lobster knife. They also make eating utensils.