With their common goal of creating the best knives possible Michel Bras and KAI discovered, as their friendship deepened, that they had many other things in common besides knives. Just as Michel loves his birthplace Aubrac, the source of his inspiration, so the spirit of KAI is rooted in the Mino region and in the skilled craftsmen who live there. Both the high plateau of Aubrac and the plain of Mino lie inland and are blessed by an abundant nature. Both Laguiole and Seki are famed for their excellent knives. And finally Michel Bras' father was also a blacksmith. What Michel Bras expects of a knife is first that it be "sharp and beautiful," and second that it be "well-balanced and fit firmly in the hand. "Cutting herbs with a blunt knife is like wounding them," Michel points out. "If the herbs are wounded," he says, "their blood is lost, along with their beauty and savor. They just wither and die." The act of cutting means finding harmony for Michel Bras. He expresses this using the example of Japanese archery. "In archery, the arrow becomes a part of the archer's body, and if the archer lets go of it just when he feels he has become one with it, he knows he will hit the bull's eye even if he's blind-folded. For all those who love cooking: A delicately polished sharpness, an effortless feel in the hand when used and a refined beauty. Such are the hallmarks of this collection of knives designed by Michel Bras and manufactured by KAI. Achieving a perfect fusion of beauty and usefulness, of esthetics and gastronomy, was the goal that this great cook set for himself. Michel Bras knives are the ideal companions of all those who love cooking. Product Features: Type ILThe taller block houses Michel Bras larger knives No. 3, No. 5, No. 6 and No. 9, while the shorter unit holds the smaller knives No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, No. 7, No. 8 and the large No. 10. Dimensions: Tall Block 6.8 Depth x 6.24 Width x 11.8-in HeightShort Block: 8.7-in Depth x 8.8-in Depth x 8.8-in Height Net weight: 5.95 pounds Handcrafted in Japan