Knife Sets

There are a number of different types of Japanese kitchen knives. more...

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The most commonly used types in the Japanese kitchen are the deba bocho (kitchen cleaver), the santoku hocho (all-purpose utility knife), the nakiri bocho and usuba hocho (Japanese vegetable knives), and the tako hiki and yanagi ba (sashimi slicers).

Types of Japanese Kitchen Knives

There are two classes of traditional Japanese knives forging methods: Honyaki and Kasumi. The class is based on the method and material used in forging the knife. Honyaki are true-forged knives, made entirely of one material, high-carbon steel. Kasumi are made from two materials, like samurai swords of old: high-carbon steel and soft iron forged together (known as san mai blades), with the steel forming the blade's edge and the iron forming the blade's body and spine. Honyaki and Kasumi knives can be forged out of either ao-ko or shiro-ko steel. Based on their kirenaga (duration of sharpness) and hardness, however they are more difficult to use and maintain. Additionally, there are high-grade quality Kasumi knives called Hongasumi and layered steel Kasumi called Damascus which have longer kirenaga.

Originally, all Japanese kitchen knives were made from the same carbon steel as katana. More expensive san mai knives have a similar quality, containing an inner core of hard and brittle carbon steel, with a thick layer of soft and more ductile steel sandwiched around the core so that the hard steel is exposed only at the cutting edge. Nowadays stainless steel is often used for Japanese kitchen knives, and this san mai laminated blade construction is also used in more expensive blades to add corrosion resistance while maintaining strength and durability.

Japanese Cutlery Production

Much high-quality Japanese cutlery originates from Sakai, the capital of samurai sword manufacturing since the 1300s. The production of knives started in the 16th century, when tobacco was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese, and Sakai 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 first 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.

Read more at Wikipedia.org