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Japanese kitchen knives are knives made to varying degrees of adherence to the traditional blacksmithing techniques of Japan. Most knives are referred to as hōchō (包丁), or sometimes -bōchō (due to rendaku), but often have other names, like -kiri (〜切り, "… cutter"). There are four general categories of characteristics: handles (Western vs Japanese), blade grind (single bevel vs double bevel), steel (stainless vs carbon), and construction (laminated vs monosteel).
Contents
Handle
Western handles have a bolster and a full or partial tang. They are often heavier and smaller in volume and surface area than Japanese handles. The scale materials are often synthetic or resin cured wood and non porous. Chefs who prefer a grip closer to the blade, a balance closer to the handle, more weight in the cut, and cutting techniques associated with them prefer the feel of a Western handle.
Japanese Handles are made of ho wood burned in and friction fitted to a hidden tang with a buffalo horn bolster capping the handle-blade junction to prevent splitting. This allows easy installation and replacement. The wood is porous and fine grained so as to not split and to retain grip when wet. More decorative woods as ebony, yew, cherry, or chestnut (often charred on the outside to improve grip and water resistance) are used and are heavier and some are more prone to cracking if not well cured or cared for properly in exposure to humidity. A silver colored metal spacer is sometimes seen in ebony handles to celebrate the completion of a chef's apprenticeship. The handle is lighter and greater in volume than most Western counterparts. The general shapes are chestnut (or D) and octagon among other variations of these shapes, with most tapering slightly larger toward the tail end. Some sand the ho wood handles as they do retain particles of dirt or sharpening swarf and discolor. Chefs who prefer a more blade-heavy knife, a lighter knife overall, a larger handle for other wise cramped hands, cutting techniques associated with sensitive knife feel, generally lower cost, and easily replaceable handles prefer the Japanese handle.
Blade Grind
Double bevel knives are those made in the Western tradition. They are generally thinner at the spine but often thicker behind the edge. They are made to not steer left or right during the cut. They do not require as much care or knowledge to perform adequately as single bevel knives. Japan adopted French and German cutlery ideas after World War II and hybridized them to fit Japanese cutting techniques and culture. Knives are often flatter than their European counterparts.
Single bevel knives are knives made in the Japanese tradition and have an omote (front or face on the right for right-handers), a shinogi (where the front bevel meets the flat of the blade face), and a urasuki (backside hollow to release food). These knives are usually a little thicker at the spine and body than Japanese double bevels but are thinner right behind the edge. They leave a better surface finish but the produce must bend a further distance due to the thickness. These are the knives of the established traditional Japanese cuisine and were originally developed from double bevel knives from China. They are sharpened along the single bevel by applying pressure to the shinogi to raise it and to the edge. Honbadzuke is the initial sharpening to form a flat surface along the perimeter of the urasuki to strengthen it, straighten the backside, and lay geometry for future sharpening. The omote is sharpened much more than the urasuki in order to maintain the function of the single bevel. Kansai style knives usually have pointed tip for use standing up (which helps in decorative tip work) and Edo style knives have a square tip for use sitting down (which makes a more robust working knife). The standard Japanese knife kit includes the yanagiba, deba, and usuba. They are essential to Washoku (Japanese cuisine).
Steel
Defining characteristics are toughness (resistance to breaking), sharpness (smallest carbide and grain for smallest apex reduce force in cutting), edge life (an index for the length of time an edge will cut based on lack of edge rolling or chipping), edge quality (toothy with large carbides or refined with small carbides), and ease of sharpening (steel easily abrades in stone and forms a sharp edge). Although each steel has its own chemical and structural limits and characteristics, the heat treatment and processing can bring out traits both inherent to the steel and like its opposite counterparts.
Stainless steel is generally tougher, less likely to chip, and less sharp than carbon. At the highest end, they retain an edge longer and are similarly sized in carbides to carbon steel. Variants include
Carbon steel is generally sharper, harder, more brittle, less tough, easier to sharpen, and more able to rust.
Construction
Monosteel blades are usually harder to sharpen and thinner than laminated blades.
Laminated blades called awase (mixed, for mixed steel), kasumi (misty, referring to the misty look of iron after sharpening), and Hon-kasumi (higher quality kasumi). Jigane refers to soft cladding or skin and hagane refers to hard cutting steel. They can be both carbon or both stainless and less common is stainless clad over a carbon core because of the difficulty. The jigane allows the knife to be much easier to sharpen and to absorb shock and allows the hagane to be made harder without making the whole blade fragile. This allows corrosion resistance and with the cutting powers of carbon. The two forms are
A variation is to form an artisctic patter in the jigane. They include
Production
Much high-quality Japanese cutlery originates from Sakai, the capital of samurai sword manufacturing since the 14th century. After the Meiji Restoration, the carrying of swords by the samurai class was banned as part of an attempt to modernise Japan. Though demand for military swords remained and some swordsmiths still produced traditional samurai swords as art, the majority of swordsmiths refocused their skill to cutlery production.
The production of steel knives in Sakai started in the 16th century, when tobacco was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese, and Sakai craftsmen started to make knives for cutting tobacco. The Sakai knives industry received a major boost from the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868), which granted Sakai a special seal of approval and enhanced its reputation for quality (and according to some references a monopoly).
During the Edo period (1603–1867) (or more precisely the Genroku era (1688–1704)) the deba bocho were manufactured, soon followed by a wide range of other styles. Making kitchen knives and related products is still a major industry in Sakai, using a combination of modern machinery and traditional hand tools to make stain-resistant carbon steel blades.
Seki, Gifu is today considered the home of modern Japanese kitchen cutlery, where state-of-the-art manufacturing and technology has updated ancient forging skills to produce a world-class series of stainless and laminated steel kitchen knives famed throughout the world. The major cutlery making companies are based in Seki, and they produce the highest quality kitchen knives in the traditional Japanese style and the western style, like the gyuto and the santoku. Knives and swords are so much a part of the city that it is home of the Seki Cutlery Association, the Seki Swordsmith Museum, the Seki Outdoor Knife Show, the October Cutlery Festival, and the Cutlery Hall where tourists can purchase knives.
Another famous center for traditional blacksmiths and knifesmiths is Miki City. Miki is well known to all of Japan for its knifemaking traditions, and its knives and tools recall the pride of Japanese steelmaking. Most Miki manufacturers are small family businesses where craftsmanship is more important than volume and typically produce fewer than a dozen knives a day.
The current knife centers of Japan include
Design and Use
Unlike western knives, Japanese knives are often single ground, i.e., sharpened so that only one side holds the cutting edge. As shown in the image, some Japanese knives are angled from both sides, and others are angled only from one side, with the other side of the blade being flat. It was originally believed that a blade angled only on one side cuts better and makes cleaner cuts, though requiring more skill in its use than a blade with a double-beveled edge. Usually, the right hand side of the blade is angled, as most people use the knife with their right hand, with ratios ranging from 70–30 for the average chef's knife, to 90–10 for professional sushi chef knives; left-handed models are rare and must be specially ordered and custom made.
Since the end of World War II, western-style double-beveled edged knives have become much more popular in Japan, the best example being that of the santoku, an adaptation of the gyuto (牛刀 （ぎゅうとう）, gyūtō, gyuto, gyutou), the French chef's knife and the Sujihiki which is roughly analogous to a western slicing or carving knife. While these knives are usually sharpened symmetrically on both sides, their blades are still given Japanese-style acute-angle cutting edges of 8-10 degrees per side with a very hard temper to increase cutting ability.
Professional Japanese cooks usually own their personal set of knives, which are not used by other cooks. Some cooks may choose to own two sets of knives to alternate every other day. After sharpening a carbon-steel knife in the evening after use, the user may let the knife "rest" for a day to restore its patina and remove any metallic odour or taste that might otherwise be passed on to the food.
Japanese knives feature subtle variations on the chisel grind: the back side of the blade is often concave, to reduce drag and adhesion so the food separates more cleanly; this feature is known as urasuki. The kanisaki deba, used for cutting crab and other shellfish, has the grind on the opposite side (left side angled for right-handed use), so that the meat is not cut when chopping the shell.