There are a number of Japanese kitchen knives types. The most commonly used types are: deba bocho (fish filleting), santoku (all-purpose utility knife), nakiri bocho and usuba (Japanese vegetable knives), gyuto chef knife and yanagi ba (sashimi slicers). Japanese Damascus knives are considered one of the best in the world. Both sharper and thinner, Japanese kitchen knives typically use a harder blade steel and a small cutting angle (15 degrees as opposed to 20 degrees).
You can find our complete guide about Japanese kitchen knife types here.
Japanese hand crafted knives usually have a three-layer construction. The core is made of very hard steel. On both sides it is protected by plates made of softer steel. Thanks to the clads, the blade becomes more flexible and will not break. The clads can be made of multilayer steel (Damascus), stainless steel and even iron. Most Japanese knives are made of carbon steel, which is susceptible to corrosion. Damascus Japanese knives are usually most popular as a beautiful gift.
Regardless of what materials the Japanese kitchen knife is made of, it cannot be washed in the dishwasher. Hot water and detergents damage the materials of the handle and blade. We recommend washing the knife by hand and wiping it dry immediately after use. For the care of kitchen knives from Japan, we recommend using camellia oil, and for sharpening - whetstones or ceramic sharpeners. The sharpening angle of Japanese kitchen knives is usually 15 degrees. European knives have a larger angle – 20 degrees. Therefore, Japanese knives cannot be sharpened with standard European roller sharpeners.
Despite the fact that Japanese knives are very sharp, they can not be used for too hard, as well as for frozen foods. If you try to cut very hard products, pieces of the cutting edge may be break away. Even in factory production, a lot of manual labor is used in the making of Japanese kitchen knives. Therefore, the dimensions stated on the product page may differ slightly from the actual ones. This is not a defect. You can always ask our consultants to additionally measure the knife you are interested in in order to clarify the thickness of the butt or the width of the blade. Please note that due to the design and materials, Japanese kitchen knives are lighter than European ones. This is an advantage, since when working with such a knife, the hand does not get tired. In addition, due to the small weight, the Japanese knife is convenient to hold with any grip.
To protect the blade during storage and transportation, use a special scabbard – saya. They can also be purchased separately in our store. The blade is inserted into the wooden saya and, if necessary, secured with a pin. Before buying a saya sheath for your Japanese knife, we recommend consulting with the sellers to make sure that the protection scabbard is suitable for the selected knife. In our store you can buy online Japanese kitchen knives, handmade by blacksmiths like Yu Kurosaki, Yoshimi Kato, Takeshi Saji as well as famous factories such as Tojiro, Kasumi, Mcusta Zanmai, Global, Miyabi, Seki Kanetsugu and others.
Every Japanese knife has a piece of the soul of the masters who made it. Today, Japanese kitchen knives are rightfully considered the best in the world.
We have a huge range of Japanese kitchen knives made by top brands and famous blacksmiths.
