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Most Popular Types of Japanese Kitchen Knives
This guide is to help those interested in the different types of Japanese Kitchen Knives. Most people don’t know what the purpose of each type of Japanese Kitchen Knife is.
The following is a quick and easy guide to types of Japanese kitchen knives. These knives are mainly used for Western type cuisine. So we will cover the knives you will see for sale in the USA or surrounding countries. In Japan, they have quite a few more styles of knives available but they aren’t as easy to find in Western countries.
Most common Western Style Types of Japanese kitchen knives
Below we will go through popular Japanese knives and their Western equivalent.
GYUTO (Chef’s knife)
The Gyuto is the Japanese equivalent of the Western kitchen Chef’s Knife. Gyuto knives were originally made for cutting large pieces of beef. Thus its name means “a cow sword”. The primary difference between a Western chef’s knife and a Gyuto is the thickness of the blade. The Japanese version has a thinner blade that is usually made out of harder steel and is a double bevel. The general size of the knife ranges from 210 mm to 270 mm.
This knife is good for the form of chopping known as thrust cutting. It is also good for pull-cutting softer meats and push-cutting for muscular cuts of meat. There is usually a slope on the heel of the knife that goes to the tip of the knife. This slope causes the wrist to point down and the shoulder to raise up when cutting.
SANTOKU (Multi-Purpose)
The Santoku knife is a multi-purpose knife. The name Santoku means a ‘knife of three virtues’. The best use is for cutting vegetables, fish, and meat. Santoku knives are generally flatter than Gyuto knives and also have a less pointy tip. Since these knives are flatter the wrist is in a more natural position. Thus the shoulder doesn’t need to be as high. So these knives do not need as much room as a Gyuto knife.
Santoku blades are between 165-180mm in length and almost always double bevel. The knife can have a Japanese or a European handle. These types of knives are the most popular in Japanese homes.
NAKIRI (Vegetable knife)
The Nakiri knife is a vegetable knife. Its name means “knife for cutting greens”. A square tip makes the knife more robust and secure than pointed-tip knives such as the Santoku and Gyuto. A square tip also allows the knife to cut dense objects at the tip as the knife has a flat edge.
Some Nakiri knives have a slight tilt to the blade towards the handle. This slight tilt makes the grip more comfortable. This causes the hand to tilt up a little bit. The hand tilting up enables the ability to use the strength of the forearm when cutting.
In Japan, it’s a popular alternative to the Santoku. Was made for home use. The usual length of the blade is 165-180mm and it is almost always double-bevel.
PETTY (Paring/Utility knife)
The Petty knife is also referred to as a paring or utility knife. It’s a smaller version of the Gyuto knife.
The purpose and design of this knife is for delicate cutting tasks. The design is for when you need a smaller knife to make precision cuts.
Petty knives are for peeling and paring. This knife should be in everyone’s kitchen. The usual length is between 120-150mm.
YANAGIBA (Willow blade)
The Yanagiba knife has a long thin blade. In Japan, its name means “a willow” as the blade actually resembles a willow leaf. This knife is the most popular knife for cutting fish. It’s also referred to as a shabu-boho or sashimi knife. You can use it to cut different textures of fish depending on the technique. It is also used to skin, scale, and de-bone certain fish such as Salmon.
The typical length of Yanagiba blades is between 240-360mm long. They are famous for their precision. This is why many sushi chefs prefer this knife. Features of Yanagiba knives are a Japanese handle and a chisel ground blade. The blade has an extremely small angle.
DEBA
The Deba knife was traditionally used to clean and fillet whole fish. It’s also used for breaking down and dressing poultry and other meat with small bones.
This knife is heavy as far as Japanese knives go. You can use the Deba to cut fish heads in half. With the correct techniques, you can also use to remove and split open the legs and claws of crabs. As with most knives cutting through large bones is bad and can cause chipping and cracking of the blade.
Deba knives are between 165-210mm long and up to 9mm thick. The spine of the knife tapers along its length. Thus the tip is thin and sensitive enough for the user of the knife to feel whether they are touching bones. This feature makes the Deba ideal for filleting.
The Deba has a tapered blade and stout handle. This creates a point of balance that centers on the heel of the blade. This results in the knife feeling far more agile than expected. By having good balance and a thin blade tip the Deba is good for doing delicate work.
CHUKABOCHO (cleaver)
Chukabocho knives actually originated in China. But by the early Twentieth Century, Japanese craftsmen perfected these knives. Also called Chinese Cleavers. Easy to recognize with their large rectangular blades and sturdy compact handles. For a mechanical advantage, these knives have a short handle, flat profile, and tall blade. The blade is thicker behind the edge so you can cut denser ingredients including some types of bones.
These cleavers come in a variety of blade thicknesses and weights. Lighter and thinner blades are for fine slicing. The heavier and thicker blades are for splitting and breaking down poultry. Another use would be for splitting fish heads. Medium-weight blades make a versatile general-purpose knife. With the medium-weight knife, one can slice, chop, mince, scrape, and even crush objects.
Chukabocho knives are between 180 and 220 mm in length and around 100mm in height. The weight varies between 300g and 900g. The tall blade of the Chukabocho knife can be safely guided with the knuckles of your free hand when using. Thus large vegetables and fruit can be cut with ease.
Wrap up of types of Japanese Kitchen Knives
We hope you find the information above helpful. Now you can identify the different Types of Japanese Kitchen Knives. We tried to list different types most people will see when shopping.
Interested in buying a Japanese kitchen knife? Check out our guide on Handmade Japanese Kitchen Knives.
If you have any questions please feel free to use the comment section below. We would love to hear from you!
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