Type of Japanese Knife

Japanese knives are famous for their craftsmanship and precision, and every shape has a job it was designed for. This guide covers every profile we stock, with typical sizes and who each one suits. Each heading links to the live collection so you can see what is in store right now.

Gyuto. The chef's knife

The gyuto is the Japanese take on a Western chef's knife and the best single knife to own. It slices, dices, chops and minces, handles meat, fish and vegetables, and the thin blade rewards good technique with very clean cuts. Most people are happiest with 210mm; go 240mm if you have bench space and bigger hands, or 180mm for a small kitchen.

Santoku. The all-rounder

Santoku means "three uses", usually taken as meat, fish and vegetables. It is shorter and flatter than a gyuto, typically 165 to 180mm, which makes it friendly in smaller kitchens and for cooks who prefer an up and down chopping motion over rock chopping.

Bunka. The all-rounder with a k-tip

The bunka does the same work as a santoku but carries an angled kiritsuke-style tip. That reverse tip is handy for scoring, detail work, and getting into tight spots, and it looks fantastic.

Nakiri and Usuba. Vegetables

Both are rectangular vegetable knives that cut straight through to the board with no rocking needed. The nakiri is double bevel and the everyday choice. The usuba is its single-bevel professional cousin, favoured for very fine work like katsuramuki (rotary peeling). Neither is meant for meat, fish or bones.

Petty. Small jobs

The petty, from the French "petit", is the small utility knife, usually 120 to 150mm. Peeling, trimming, fruit, garlic, shallots and anything else where a big blade gets in the way. It is most kitchens' second knife.

Sujihiki. The slicer

Long, narrow and thin, usually 240 to 300mm. The sujihiki trims sinew and fat and carves proteins in single clean strokes: roasts, turkey, cured meats, and fish when you don't own a yanagiba. If you cook a lot of protein it earns its place fast.

Yanagiba. Sashimi

The traditional single-bevel sashimi slicer. The very long blade lets you draw through a fillet in one pull so the cut face stays glassy and the fish keeps its texture. A specialist tool, and the heart of Japanese fish work.

Deba. Fish butchery

A thick, heavy single-bevel knife for breaking down whole fish: removing heads, filleting along the spine, and working through fish bones. Despite the weight it is not a cleaver, so no chopping through big bones or frozen food.

Honesuki. Poultry and boning

A stiff, triangular Japanese boning knife made for taking apart chickens and working meat off the bone. The pointed tip and firm blade track along joints and cartilage beautifully.

Funayuki. The fisherman's knife

Funayuki means "going on a boat". Originally the one knife fishermen took to sea, it is a lighter, more pointed all-rounder that is especially good with fish but happy doing general work too.

Gyuhiki. Gyuto meets sujihiki

A hybrid: gyuto height at the heel with a longer, slimmer profile toward the tip. One knife that preps like a gyuto and slices like a sujihiki.

Kaisaki. Detailed seafood work

A small traditional pointed knife used for fine seafood preparation and detail cutting.

Mukimono. Peeling and garnish

A thin single-bevel knife for decorative work: peeling, vegetable carving and garnishes. A specialist's tool from traditional Japanese kitchens.

Chinese cleaver (chuka bocho)

The tall rectangular blade used across Chinese kitchens. Vegetable slicing, scooping straight off the board, smashing garlic. A vegetable knife, not a bone chopper.

And the rest

We also stock bread knives, steak knives and oyster knives, plus knife sets if you are starting from scratch.

Which one first?

If you are buying your first Japanese knife, start with a gyuto or a santoku, then add a petty. Our beginner-friendly collection is curated for exactly this. Steel matters as much as shape, so read our guide to knife steels too, and once you own one, learn to keep it sharp with our sharpening guide.

Still not sure? Come and hold a few in the studio at Lot 10, 198 Adelaide Street, Brisbane City, or email contact@japaneseknifestudio.com.au and tell us what you cook.