Anyone’s mind would blow when they handle those shiny, sharp, and silky smooth Japanese knives. Their extra-fine grip, fine blade, and glossy appeal feel like a dreamy illusion to me!  Being a passionate aichmomaniac, I have loved collecting knives since childhood. I was a little boy when my father introduced me to Japanese knives. I was amazed because of the finesse and sharpness of these knives. As I grew up, I came across various types of Japanese knives. I have treasured more than 10 types of these knives in my collection.  

For a newbie, all knives would look similar at first glance. But, each of these knives has unique differences and structures. If you want to learn about these tools too, this article will help you to understand them in detail. I have explained different types of Japanese Knives, their usage, characteristics, origin, etc. So, let us move ahead and learn more about these sharp tools!

13 Popular Types Of Japanese Knives:

1. Gyuto:

If you have ever visited a live Japanese restaurant, you must have seen a Jyuto knife! It is also called a ‘Beef knife’ or ‘Chef’s Knife’.These long thin thin-bladed knives are 150 to 390 mm long. They have a sharp edge angle of 15 to 18°.

Their 1.5 to 5 mm blade can easily chop meat, beef, and portions of carrots, broccoli, peppers, nuts, and onions. 

Pros:

• Their handle and blade weight are proportional. So, handling these knives is easy.
• Their high-quality stainless steel blades are resistant to rust and corrosion.

Cons: 

• Curved-bladed Gyuto knives are difficult to cut and dice food.
• Special edition Gyuto knives made of stainless steel blades are tough to re-sharp after a long use.

2. Santoku:

The name Santoku originates from the Japanese words ‘San’ and ‘Toku’ which means ‘three virtues’. They are also called ‘ Bunka Bōchō. It is used to cut veggies, meat, and fish. I love this knife because of its 6-7 inch wide and long blade,  hollow edges, and fine cuts. 

Kindly check my article on ‘Santoku’ knife for more details!

Pros:

• Their flatter cutting edges are good for vertical chopping and dicing.
• Their high-quality carbon stainless steel blades are rust-free.

Cons: 

• These knives have a blunt end. So piercing and dicing small veggies is a handful of tasks with these knives.
• They are not ideal for cutting bones. 

3. Nakiri:

These rectangular knives have 6 to 7 inches long thin blades. I like these knives due to their less maintenance and comfortable knuckle clearance. These knives may have traditional Japanese ‘Wa-handle’ or ‘western handle.’ 

Wa-handles have ergonomic D-shape, octagonal, and oval shape. I prefer to use D-shapes due to their finesse and smoothness of cutting.

Pros:

• Their blades remain the same after sharpening.
• They have a double bevel blade providing acute and straight cuts for left and right-handed chefs!

Cons: 

• Beginners may find these knives difficult to handle.
• They are designed to cut vegetables. They give poor and blunt cuts on meat, fish, chicken, etc.

4. Deba:

You may have seen those thick-bladed knives to fillet fish. These knives are specially made for cutting, mincing, and filleting fish, meat, chicken, etc. The name ‘Deba’ means ‘pointed carving knife’. 

They are made from 5-7 inches of Shirogami white steel that can chop bones in fish and meat. Some sub-types of Deba knives are:

1. Hon-Deba: This original Deba is thickest and ideal for heavy-duty cutting of veggies, fish, etc.

2. Kanisaki-Deba: This special variant of Deba is useful in cutting crabs and lobsters.

3. Yo-Deba:  This kind of Debas has a European handle. This heavy-duty butcher knife with a double-beveled blade is ideal for cutting fish, crustaceans, chicken, meat, etc.

4. Ko-Deba/  aji-deba/ aji-kiri: This small-sized Deba is used to fillet small fish like trout, mackerel, sardines, etc. 
5. Miroshi-deba: These knives are useful to cut, fillet, portion, and mince fish, poultry, etc. They are a combination of Hon-Deba and Yanagiba knives.

Pros:

• These knives’ thick spined blades and tapering points can give obtuse-angled cuts on produce, fish heads, fish bones, tendons, vegetables, etc.
• Chefs can use these affordable knives to fillet fish without damaging their heads.

Cons: 

• They are not strong enough to cut bones, frozen foods, etc. Their blade can crack on handling roughly on tough food items. I prefer Santoku knives in such situations.
• These knives are tough to sharpen.

5. Yanagiba (Sashimi):

A true Sushi lover knows this knife!  They are also called ‘Yanagi-ba Bōchō’ in Japan, which means ‘willow leaf blade’. Their 210-360mm long thin blade can sharply fillet small to medium-sized fish or skin fish. Just like Nikir knives, these knives also have wooden ‘Wa-handles’. They have variants such as  Sakimaru Takohiki, Takohiki, Fuguhiki, etc.

I apply a pulling motion from the heel to the tip of the knife using the pointed tip of this knife. Its single bevel edge can smoothly slice raw fish in a single stroke. I also use the other side of the blade which is non-sticky and concave. I cut smooth and glossy slices of fish using a non-sticky side.

Pros:

• These knives give the fish a sharp and smooth cut without destroying its original flavor and texture. This helps to minimize cellular damage.
• They are ideal for preparing sashimi and nigiri sushi dishes. 

Cons: 

• Mostly, these knives do not give a straight cut on fish.
• They are not suitable for beginners. You need to be a skilled chef to cut fish like a pro.

6. Petty Knife:

These general-use knives are useful for cutting, slicing, peeling, and chopping. I like these knives because of their highly maneuverable rocking or push-pull motion.  

These utility knives can cut delicate fruits, mushrooms, small vegetables, strawberries, small fish, garlic, etc. Hence, this knife is known as the ‘smaller version of Gyuto knife’ due to its versatility.

Pros:

• This knife’s 3-6 inch long blade is useful in versatile cutting vegetables, skinning fish, trimming meat, deveining shrimp, making garnishing material, etc.
• This lightweight knife provides precise control and accurate grip size for cutting veggies.

Cons: 

• These smaller knives are not useful for cutting large portions of meat, tough bones, and frozen fish.
• They are more expensive than paring knives.

Kindly, watch this video to see how to use the Petty knife:

7. Usuba:

Like Naikiri knives, these knives are also useful for cutting and chopping veggies. They are also called ‘ Azumagata Usuba or Kakugata Usuba’, where ‘Usuba’ means ‘thin edge/blade’ in Japanese. Regular Usuba knife has a rectangular tip and Kamagata Usuba knife has a semi-circular tip.  

These single-bevel knives are sharpened on one side only. I like this knife because it can cut vegetables into thin slices without sticking their strands.

Pros:

• The precisely sharp blades of this knife give razor-thin cuts to soft veggies, fruits, and soft meat.
• Their sturdy handle avoids slipping while cutting and prevents discoloration and flavor changes of vegetables.

Cons: 

• I feel this knife pull to the left while chopping vegetables for straight cuts.
• They are not good for cutting the skins of thick vegetables and fruits.

8. Japanese Bread Knife:

Japanese bread knives have two common types: slicer and serrated. Slicer knives have wave patterns on the blade’s edge. They are useful to cut soft breads, cakes, etc. 

Serrated bread knives are called Pankiri. Pankiri knives are useful for cutting bread, peeling pineapple skin, and slicing soft fruits like tomatoes, dragonfruit, kiwis, peaches, plums, etc. 

I use the Eden Pankiri Japanese Bread knife to cut layered cream cakes, frozen desserts, sandwiches, roasted meat, turkey, and fish portions.

Pros:

• Their Japanese ‘Wa-handles’ provide an ergonomic and firm grip.
• They yield Scalloped serrations to cut soft fruits without tearing them. They also yield Pointed serrations to cut bread crusts, and skinned veggies like eggplants, potatoes, etc.

Cons: 

• These knives can be expensive due to their versatile uses.
• We cannot use them to cut raw meat, fish skin, and hard flesh.

9. Honesuki (Boning) Knife:

These knives can finely cut connective tissue and ligaments, remove meat from bones, and cut cores of pears, apples, etc. Their thin, flexible, tapering-ended blade provides more precision and less food wastage.

This is my go-to knife for slicing meat and breaking up cartilage in joints. These knives have 5-9.5 inches long curved or straight blade. I use a stiff boning knife for slicing pork and beef, which is comparatively harder than fish and chicken.

Kindly, go through this article on ‘Boning Knife’ to learn about it in detail!

Pros:

• These knives are also useful to carve creams on cakes.
• They are useful for trimming fats in steak, chicken, and meat.

Cons: 

• The blades of this knife get blunt when we use it for cutting thick meat or frozen food items.
• Beginners may face difficulties in handling these knives for adding precise cuts on meat, fish, etc.

10. Bunka Knife:

This all-purpose knife is the soul of every Japanese kitchen! The Bunka Bano-Bocho model is popular in Western cuisine. These knives are used in cutting and slicing onions, garlic cloves, jalapenos, spring onions, scallions, etc. 

These knives can have lengths of 120 mm to 240mm. I use a medium-length 165 mm Bunka knife for removing extra fat from chicken legs. Its wider blade and triangular tips help me to mince the meat and fish smoothly. 

Pros:

• This compact knife can be used instead of a chef’s knife.
• It can be used for coring fruits, meat, fish, etc.
• Its ergonomic handle reduces strain on fingers and hands while cutting veggies for longer.

Cons: 

• This knife’s blade can chip or crack on a rough handling.
• moist and juicy food sticks to this knife, especially to ones with a small blade

11. Honyaki:

These knives are made from forged carbon steel and soft iron materials, called Ao-ko or Shiro-ko steel. Hence, they mean ‘true-forged’ in Japanese. Their blade has the largest edge retention. Masamoto Shiro-Ko Honyaki, Suisin Inox Honyaki, etc., are the famous models of these knives. 

The creation of this knife is similar to crafting a Katana, a Japanese sword. Hence, many call it as ‘Kitchen Katana’. These knives are suitable for slicing sashimi for clean cuts and flavor retention. Their blade length is 240 mm or longer.  

Pros:

• They have sharper blades than other Japanese knives.
• They are durable.

Cons: 

• These knives are more expensive than other knives due to their unique composition.
• These knives take longer time to sharpen than other knives.

12. Sujihiki:

Sujihiki means flesh slicer in Japanese. This slicer knife is useful for trimming fat and sinew from meat, fish, etc. This knife provides an acute blade angle, a sharp tip, and excellent cuts.  This helps in retaining the flavor of fish with less cellular damage.

Getting a Sujihiki was a good investment for me. I use them to slice meat loaves, butcher steaks, peel fish skin,  and carve roasted chicken. Its long and thin blade of  210mm up to 360mm sizes reduces friction resulting in clean cuts. 

Pros:

• You don’t have to cut back and forth while cutting with this knife. Its single-cut slices the boneless meat and fish in one stroke.
• Its blade has a larger surface area. It prevents meat, fish, and veggies from sticking to the blade.
• This lightweight knife is easy to sharpen, maintain, and use.

Cons: 

• This knife is used secondarily in kitchens. It is not useful in rough cutting and chopping.
• These knives give insufficient flat of food items. You cannot lift dice into a bowl.  

13. Kiritsuke:

These multi-purpose knives are a combination of Usaba and Yanagiba knives. Hence, they are best for slicing fish and meat; and cutting fruits and veggies! The word Kiritsuke means ‘slit open’ in Japanese. 

Their 240-330mm blade has a straight edge and ‘reverse tanto’ or ‘clip point’ tip angle. They are an excellent choice for preparing Japanese cuisine like finely sliced vegetables, glossy cuts on fish, etc.

Pros:

• These knives offer great precision and control in dicing, julienne, filleting, and slicing raw fish and meat.
• They allow smooth pull-cut motion for slicing fish and push-cut for cutting vegetables and fruits.

Cons: 

• You must practice cutting and slicing skills to use these knives like a pro. Beginners may find it laborious to handle these knives on the first go.
• Their blade may chip or break if you do not maintain and hone it regularly.

Whether it is a Gyuto or Deba, I am sharing this video link to ‘easily use any Japanese knife’ for your help:

Also, if you are a knife-savvy person, these articles of mine will help you:

• How to hone a knife?
• How to remove rust from knives?
• When to clean and sanitize a knife?
• How to sharpen a Japanese knife?

Conclusion:

I hope this guide on types of Japanese knives has given you meaningful insights for choosing the best one for you! I suggest you look into all the details, maintenance steps, and techniques when you get one of these knives for your kitchen or restaurant. A good knife can last for years when used in the right way! Which Japanese knife do you like and use the most? Do let me know in the comments!