Japanese Knife Types: 11 Kitchen Knives and What Each One Does

Japanese kitchens use more knife shapes than most American kitchens, and the names can make the whole category feel harder than it is. In practice there are two families. The first is double-bevel knives, sharpened on both sides like a Western knife, which most home cooks will use every day. The second is single-bevel knives, sharpened mostly on one side, which come out of Japan’s professional fish and vegetable traditions. Once you know which family a knife belongs to, the rest is mostly about length and profile.

We buy these knives from makers and wholesalers in Sakai, Seki, Tsubame-Sanjo, Echizen, and Tosa, and the questions we hear most are simple ones. What is this knife for, how long should it be, and do I actually need it? This page answers those for the eleven types we cover, then suggests which three to buy first.

Japanese knife types at a glance

If single-bevel versus double-bevel is new to you, read single-bevel vs double-bevel before buying a yanagiba or deba. It changes how the knife cuts and how you sharpen it.

Gyuto

The gyuto is the Japanese chef’s knife. The name means “cow sword,” a leftover from the Meiji era when Western-style meat cooking arrived in Japan, but today it is used for everything. Compared with a German chef’s knife it is thinner, harder, and usually has a flatter belly and a finer tip. For most people it is the first Japanese knife to buy, and 210mm is the length we suggest most often. Read the full gyuto page and our comparison of 210mm vs 240mm gyuto if you are torn on size.

Santoku

The santoku, “three virtues,” is the home cook’s all-purpose knife in Japan. It is shorter than a gyuto, with a flatter edge and a blunted tip, so it suits push cutting and chopping on smaller boards. If your counter space is tight or long blades make you nervous, a santoku is a sensible choice. See the santoku page and our head-to-head on gyuto vs santoku.

Nakiri

The nakiri is a rectangular vegetable knife with a nearly flat edge. The flat profile means the whole edge meets the board at once, which makes clean work of cabbage, scallions, and anything you want cut all the way through. It is not a cleaver and should not be used on bones or squash rinds with force. The nakiri page covers heights and handle options.

Petty

The petty (from the French “petit”) is Japan’s utility knife. It handles the small jobs a big knife is clumsy at: peeling fruit, trimming silver skin, cutting a single shallot, or working on a cutting board next to the stove. A 120mm to 150mm petty pairs well with any gyuto. More on the petty page.

Bunka

The bunka is a cousin of the santoku with a pointed, angular tip, often called a reverse tanto or k-tip. The tip is useful for fine work like scoring or cutting into onions, and the tall blade gives knuckle clearance. Bunkas are popular with smaller makers, and many come in rustic kurouchi finishes. See the bunka page.

Kiritsuke

The traditional kiritsuke is a long, single-bevel knife that combines features of the yanagiba and usuba. In Japan it has been associated with head chefs. Most kiritsuke sold to home cooks today are double-bevel “kiritsuke gyuto,” which behave like a gyuto with a flatter edge and a clipped tip. Know which one you are buying, because they are very different tools. The kiritsuke page explains the difference.

Sujihiki

The sujihiki is a long, narrow double-bevel slicer. It is the Western-kitchen answer to the yanagiba: great for carving roasts, slicing brisket, portioning salmon, or trimming large cuts, without the learning curve of a single-bevel edge. If you smoke meat or break down whole loins, it earns its place. See the sujihiki page.

Deba

The deba is a thick, heavy, single-bevel knife for fish butchery. The weight and thick spine let it cut through the head and small bones of fish while the fine edge fillets cleanly. It is not a meat cleaver and chips if used on beef or pork bones. If you buy whole fish regularly, the deba page will help you pick a size, usually 150mm to 180mm for home use.

Yanagiba

The yanagiba, “willow blade,” is the classic sashimi knife. It is long so you can slice raw fish in one pulling stroke, which keeps the cut surface smooth and glossy. The single bevel and hollow back (urasuki) are what let it glide through soft flesh. For home sashimi, 240mm to 270mm is plenty. More on the yanagiba page.

Usuba

The usuba is the professional vegetable knife: thin, flat, and single-bevel. It is used for katsuramuki, the technique of turning a daikon into one long paper-thin sheet, and for very precise julienne. The Kanto style is square at the tip, and the Kansai style (kamagata usuba) has a rounded point. Most home cooks are better served by a nakiri, but if you want to learn traditional technique, see the usuba page.

Honesuki

The honesuki is a Japanese boning knife designed for poultry. It has a stiff triangular blade and a heavily asymmetric or single-bevel edge, built to work along joints and separate meat from the carcass rather than to hack through bone. If you break down whole chickens, it is faster and safer than using your chef’s knife. See the honesuki page.

Which three to own

You do not need eleven knives. Most cooks need three, and the third depends on what you cook.

Start with a gyuto or a santoku. A 210mm gyuto is our default recommendation. Choose a santoku or bunka instead if you prefer a compact blade or cook on a small board.

Add a petty. It covers everything too small for the main knife and keeps you from choking up on a big blade for fiddly jobs.

For the third knife, look at your cooking honestly. If vegetables are most of your prep, a nakiri. If you slice a lot of cooked or raw protein, a sujihiki. If you buy whole chickens, a honesuki. If you buy whole fish, a deba, and later a yanagiba. That covers the vast majority of home kitchens.

A realistic starting budget for three good double-bevel knives is roughly $250 to $500, depending on steel and finish, and those numbers move with the yen. Stainless steels like VG-10 keep maintenance simple. Carbon steels like Shirogami 2 and Aogami Super sharpen beautifully but need drying after use; our guide to carbon steel vs stainless walks through that choice. If you are completely new to Japanese knives, best Japanese knife for beginners narrows things further.

A few things that confuse buyers

Handle style is separate from knife type. Almost every shape above comes with either a Japanese wa handle or a Western yo handle, and the choice affects balance more than function. Our wa handle vs yo handle guide covers it.

Lengths in Japan are measured along the edge in millimeters, not the whole knife. A 210mm gyuto has roughly 8.25 inches of cutting edge. Shop listings sometimes also quote the old sun unit, where one sun is about 30mm, so a “7 sun” knife is around 210mm.

Finish names like Damascus, kurouchi, and nashiji describe the look of the blade surface, not the knife type or the core steel. A Damascus gyuto is still a gyuto. See Damascus Japanese knives explained for what the pattern does and does not tell you.

Finally, the same knife type can be made in any region. Sakai is famous for single-bevel knives, Seki for stainless factory work, and Echizen and Tosa for hand-forged double-bevel knives, but you will find gyuto from all of them. Our guide to Japanese knife-making regions explains what each area is known for, and the brands guide covers the makers.

Buying from Japan

Every parcel from Japan now owes US import duty, since the $800 de minimis exemption was suspended in August 2025. Most Japanese shops ship DDU, which means you pay duty plus a carrier brokerage fee at the door. We ship DDP, so the price you see includes duties. Details are on our shipping and duties page and in buying Japanese knives from Japan to the USA.

If you are unsure which of these shapes fits the way you cook, tell us what you make most often on our request page and we will suggest a knife or two from the makers we buy from.