1Knife Types, Shapes & Uses
The main shapes of Japanese and Western knives, and the job each one is made for.
Slicing & sashimi
- Yanagiba (sashimi slicer)
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A long, slender single-bevel knife for slicing sashimi in one clean pull-stroke.
- Takohiki
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The Kanto-style sashimi knife, with a squared-off tip instead of a point.
- Sakimaru Takohiki
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A showy takohiki whose tip sweeps up like a Japanese sword.
- Kiritsuke Yanagiba
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A single-bevel slicer with the angled, sword-like kiritsuke tip.
- Fuguhiki (pufferfish slicer)
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An ultra-thin, flexible slicer for cutting pufferfish paper-thin.
Fish butchery
- Deba
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A heavy single-bevel knife for breaking down and filleting whole fish.
- Mioroshi Deba
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A slimmer deba that bridges butchery and slicing in a single knife.
- Ai Deba
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A lighter, slightly slimmer deba than the standard.
- Yo-Deba
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A thick, double-bevel deba built on a Western profile.
- Sakekiri (salmon knife)
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A large knife for boldly chopping through big salmon.
- Maguro-kiri (tuna knife)
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A sword-length knife for cutting a whole tuna in a single stroke.
Vegetable & all-purpose
- Usuba
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A straight single-bevel vegetable knife for julienne and katsuramuki peeling.
- Kamagata Usuba
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The Kansai-style usuba, with a rounded, sickle-like tip.
- Nakiri
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A double-bevel vegetable knife, easy to handle even at home.
- Mukimono
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A small single-bevel knife for delicate decorative vegetable carving.
- Santoku
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The all-purpose double-bevel home knife for meat, fish and vegetables.
- Funayuki
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The fisherman's all-rounder, once used on the boat from filleting to general prep.
Western & all-purpose
- Gyuto (chef knife)
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The Western chef knife as it evolved in Japan — for meat and larger ingredients.
- Kiritsuke Gyuto
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A double-bevel gyuto with the angled kiritsuke tip.
- Petty knife
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A small all-purpose knife for fine prep and fruit.
- Sujihiki (slicer)
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A long slicer for trimming sinew from large cuts of meat and slicing them.
- Paring knife
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A tiny knife for peeling fruit and fine handwork.
- Kiritsuke
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The head-chef knife, its tip cut off at an angle — traditionally the most senior blade.
- Laser (grind)
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A knife ground extremely thin, so it drops through food with almost no resistance.
- Workhorse (grind)
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A heavier, robust grind built for hard, everyday use.
Specialist knives
- Hamokiri / Honekiri
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A knife for scoring the fine bones of pike conger (hamo) without cutting the skin.
- Unagisaki (eel knife)
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Eel-filleting knives whose shape changes by region — Edo, Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya styles.
- Sobakiri
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A large knife for cutting soba dough into even strands.
- Menkiri
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A straight-edged knife for cutting udon or ramen noodles at even width.
- Pankiri (bread knife)
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A serrated knife that cuts bread cleanly.
- Chinese cleaver (Chukabocho)
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A broad rectangular knife for all-round work and butchery.
- Honesuki (boning)
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A strong, small triangular knife for boning and jointing meat.
- Garasuki
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A larger honesuki for breaking down whole poultry.
- Kaizaki (shellfish knife)
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A small knife for prying open and shucking shellfish.
- Reito-kiri (frozen-food knife)
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A saw-toothed knife for cutting through rock-hard frozen food.