There are several significant differences.
First, the steel on the Santoku knife is generally both harder and thinner. This makes for a much sharper edge, but also one more prone to chipping. A Santoku knife is less suitable for chopping than a chef's knife.
Second, the edge of a Santoku knife is usually straighter, with less curve or belly than a chef's knife. This means there will be less rocking motion possible with the knife, and so the user's technique must be different to accomplish similar tasks.
The Santoku is a fine kitchen knife, but is engineered different from a typical chef's knife. One can accomplish nearly all of the same tasks with the two knives, but with different techniques. The Santoku is -generally- harder to sharpen, more prone to chipping, and harder for Western-trained chef's to use. Once the user makes the necessary adaptations, the Santoku will hold a sharper edge longer.
I've studiously avoided saying that one is better than the other, as I don't believe this to be the case. They require different techniques, and have slightly different geometries.
You can purchase a Shun Santoku Knife on Amazon. They have a Seven Inch Shun Premier Santoku Knife for $174.90 with free shipping. You can also get a Shun Santoku on the their official website - Santoku, where they have different sizes and kinds of their knives.
A Santoku knife is prefered
The average cost for Santoku knives is at around $16 if you aren't looking into a specific knife. In retrospect the prices of a Santoku knife can vary from as little as $7 all the way to $33.
You can purchase a Santoku Knife from a store called Bed Bath and Beyond. They have them in stock most of the time for prices ranging from $20 to hundreds of dollars. You can get specialty sets from the likes of celebrities such as Paula Deen as well. Visiting their website will show you their entire inventory of Santoku knives.
I would say around 150 dollars or so would get you the best Santoki knife.
A Santoku is a Japanese general-purpose kitchen knife with a blade between 5 and 8 inches. A good place to find out information about these are in specialist Japanese equipment/cookery books.
When you are a chef you need alot of different tools for different things. Chef's knife (french Knife) Paring knife, serated knife, spatula, sauce pans, frying pans, whisk, as well as a hundred other tools.
A good Chef will have a range of knives to help prepare different foods, here is a common selection, Chefs Knife, Boning knife, fish filleting knives, paring knife, peeling knife, butchers knife, Bread knife, carving knife and meat clever. Japanese kitchen knives tend to be a lot more specialized and diverse. The list of over 100 knife types in the attached link.
The Ginsu Essential Series knife set consists of 14 pieces. Those are an 8" chef's knife, an 8" slicer, a 5" Santoku knife, a 5" vegetable/tomato knife, a 4.5" utility knife, six 4.5" steak knives, a 3.5" pearing knife, kitchen shears and a wood storage block.
Correct name is Santoku-Bocho. Santoku knives originated in Japan. Approximate translation is closer to "convenient knife", and literally it means "the knife of three virtues". What exactly are those three are still debatable. Obviously the name refers to its versatility. General purpose knife, with similar intended use with Gyutos - Japanese equivalent of western chef's knives. I.e. general food preparation, soft foods, vegetables, boneless meat, etc. Generally santokus can be found at home kitchen, but not inthe pro environment, at least in Japan. More information on various Japanese knives including photos and technical details in the attached link.
A cook's knife, also called a Chef's knife or French knife, is a large all-purpose knife that everyone should have in their basic kitchen arsenal. It's really just a modified butcher's knife, originally used to slice and disjoint large cuts of beef. Direct counterpart of western chef's knife from Japan is a Gyuto, not santoku. Gyuto is based on French chef's knife, vs. German style chef's knife, i.e. more slander, with less belly. Main difference between Gyuto and western chef's knives is its lighter weight thanks to its thinner blade. Steel used in Japanese knives is typically much higher quality compared to western knives and is a lot harder as well, 54-56 HRC is typical hardness of a western chef's knife, while average Japanese Gyuto will be well over 60 HRC, andhigh end knives go 65-67HRC. Santoku, loosely translated from Japanese means"convenient knife", and more literal translation is a knife of three virtues, although it's not very clear what are those 3 virtues. Santoku is less versatile version of a chaf's knife, but it is more multipurpose compared ot dedicated vegetable knife like Nakiri. Santokus are never used in a pro kitchen in Japan at least, mainly household cook's knife. main drawback of the santoku is the lack of length, specimens over 7" are very hard to find, and lack of belly curve.
San-toe-koo