The Types of Japanese Kitchen Knives
Eleven core Japanese blade shapes, drawn to scale so you can see the profiles side by side. Compare shape, length, and purpose at a glance, then open the full guide for any knife.
The Okami knife-type reference chart. Click any knife below for its full guide.
Every shape, drawn to scale
Original silhouettes at true relative length. The colored dot marks the family: red is double-bevel (Western-style), gold is single-bevel (traditional), blue is a specialty shape. Click any knife for its full guide.
A long, slender double-bevel slicer for meat and fish. The Western-handled sibling of the yanagiba, built for clean single-stroke slicing.
Full Sujihiki guide →The Japanese chef's knife and the most versatile blade in the kitchen. A gently curved edge handles meat, vegetables, and herbs with equal ease.
Full Gyuto guide →A home all-rounder like the santoku but with an angular reverse-tanto k-tip. The pointed tip adds precise control for detail work.
Full Bunka guide →The three-virtues all-rounder, shorter and flatter than a gyuto. A tall blade and blunt tip make it the friendliest first Japanese knife.
Full Santoku guide →A flat, rectangular vegetable knife for clean straight-down chopping. The tall, squared blade pushes through produce without a rocking motion.
Full Nakiri guide →The Japanese take on a paring and utility knife for small, precise tasks. Nimble for peeling, trimming, and detail work a big knife cannot manage.
Full Petty guide →The traditional single-bevel sashimi slicer. Its long, thin blade and hollow-ground back pull flawless slices of raw fish in a single stroke.
Full Yanagiba guide →The executive chef's knife, traditionally a single-bevel hybrid. A modern double-bevel k-tip version is a more versatile everyday interpretation.
Full Kiritsuke guide →The professional single-bevel vegetable knife. Its flat, razor-thin edge excels at katsuramuki and precise decorative vegetable work.
Full Usuba guide →A heavy single-bevel fish-butchery knife with a thick spine. Built to fillet whole fish and work through heads and collars, not to chop hard bone.
Full Deba guide →A stiff, triangular Japanese poultry-boning knife. It works joints and separates meat from bone with precision rather than chopping through it.
Full Honesuki guide →Not sure which to start with?
- One knife for everything: a gyuto (210mm), or a shorter santoku for home.
- Mostly vegetables: a nakiri at home, an usuba for professional precision.
- Fish and sushi: a yanagiba to slice, a deba to break the fish down.
- Still deciding? Try the Knife Finder quiz, or read single vs double bevel and knife anatomy.
