Bocho
- Also Ha. Japanese term for knife blade.Bocho
- Japanese term for knife, however bocho isn't used by itself, as usual prefixed with particular knife type, e.g. nakiri bocho. See also Hocho.Chuka Bocho
- Japanese term for Chinese Cleaver. Larger, rectangular shaped, thin bladed knife for vegable cutting and general kitchen use.Deba
- Heavy, thick knife designed for cutting nand filleting the fish. Can be used for butchering poultry, however cutting bones with it isn't recommended. Traditionally single bevel - see Kobayashi Deba, although double bevel versions are quite popular as well, see Takeda Deba. Haven't seen any western style handles yet, always Japanese style.Fugubiki
- Also Fuguhiki. Basically thinner version of Yanagi. Slightly flexible for making extremelly thin slices of delicate flesh fish.Fuguhiki
- See Fugubiki.Gyuto
- Japanese analog of western chef's knife. In other words - all purpose knife. Main difference from western chef's knife - its thinner blade. As most of the Japanese kitchen knives, gyuto features much harder steel. Gyutos generally come with double bevel edge. Gyutos are made with western(see Akifusa Gyuto) and Japanese style handles(see Kumagoro Gyuto) - Wa-Gyuto. In Japanese Gyuto means Cow sword. Originally designed for cutting large slices of beef.Hagane
- Soft, outer layer of steel supporting inner hard core - Jigane of the knife.Hocho
- Japanese term for knife. See also Bocho.Honesuki
- Poultry boning knife. As usual double beveled, but the edeg is very biased towards theright side.Honyaki
- Translates as "true-forged"from Japanese. Unlike San-Mai knives that have soft layer over harder core Honyaki knives are constructed of single piece ofmetal, as usual very hard, high-carbon steel. Becauseof this they are difficult to forge thus their high price. Honyakis have higher hardness and edge holding compared to other types. Because the steel is so hard sharpening this type of knife is rather challenging. Also because of high hardness honyakis are more prune to breaking, chipping and cracking. On the positive side, they can be sharpened to incredibly thin and sharp edges that will hold very long time and cutting performance will be very high.Jigane
- Inner layer of hard steel forming cutting edge of the blade, supported by outer layer of soft - Hagane in Japanese knives.Kiri
- Cutter in Japanese, apparently derived from the word cut. Nakiri, Udon-Kiri, etc.Kuro-Uchi
- Type of rustic finish on Japanese knives. Blades arent finished except for the edge, blue blackish color. See Watanabe Nakiri and Takeda Cleaver.Nakiri
- Also Nakkiri. Rectangular, thin blade vegetable knife. Excells in delicate vegetable cutting chores. Double bevel. Comes with both, western and Japanese handles - see Watanabe Nakiri.Petty
- Japanese equivalent of paring knife. Up to 150mm blade. Heel also is more prominent compared to traditional western paring knives. Can be used on cutting board as well vs. hand only.San-mai
- Technique of welded steel that laminates the hard core of the blade with softer outer layers.Santoku
- Also Santuko. In Japanese means Knife of the three virtues. Apparently refers to its versatility, although to me gyuto's are more versatile. Usually has a short blade up to 200mm, rounded tip still has a slight point. Double bevel. Comes with western or Japanese handle. See Tojiro Santoku and Global G-48 Santoku.Suminagashi
- Description for damascus pattern knife. See Kobayashi Suminagashi Nakiri Hocho.Usuba
- Rectangular, thin blade vegetable knife. Similar to Nakiri, except it's thicker and single beveled.Wa-Gyuto
- Gyuto with traditional Japanese handle. See Kumagoro Gyuto.Yanagi
- Also Yanagiba. Single bevel, long, narrow blade. Typically well over 240mm. Designed for cutting raw fish, although according to sushi chef Takechi, can be used pretty much for all types of food. Usually with traditional Japanese handle. Yanagi means willow leaf in japanese. See Aritsugu Yanagi.Yanagiba
- See Yanagi, literally it's Willow Blade.
Thanks & Credits
- Speical thanks to Takeshi Aoki of Aframes Tokyo for help with Japanese terminology.
Last updated - 11/17/08