Specials Traditional
Traditional Japanese knives or Hōchō have been in use in Japan for over a thousand years. The basic knives are the Deba, the Usuba and the Yanagiba but there are many versions and sizes available.
There are 2 forging techniques to be found in traditional Japanese kitchen knives, namely honyaki and kasumi.
Honyaki are forged knives from one type of steel usually Aogami or Shirogami steel. Kasumi knives are laminated knives where a hard carbon steel core layer the so-called Hagane (Aogami or Shirogami steel) is wedged by a softer outer layer (Jigane) of iron with low carbon content. If this Jigane outer layer is made of one type of material, these knives are called Hongasumi. If the Jigane is laminated it is also called "Damascus".
In principle, traditional Japanese knives are single-sided, making them suitable only for right-handed use. Traditional knives for left-handed use can be ordered but the delivery time can be several weeks to months.
In addition to the aforementioned Deba, the Usuba and the Yanagiba, there are many other types:
- Maguro bōchō: very long knife to cut tuna
- Nakiri bocho: double-sided cut vegetable knife
- Santoku: multifunctional knife
- Sashimi bocho: sashimi knife
- Soba kiri: Knife to cut soba (そ ば) (very thin strings of buckwheat flour noodles)
- Udon kiri: knife to cut udon (some thicker noodles)
- Unagisaki hocho: Japanese eel knife (eel)
- Tako biki: actually a yanagiba with a straight point
- Gyuto (牛刀): the Japanese version of the French chef's knife, both single-sided and double-sided
- Funayuki: small single-sided sharpened multi-purpose knife that holds the middle between a Gyuto and a deba.
- Kama-Usuba: a Usuba with a sloping point.
One of the very special new knives in the range are the sashimi knives from Keijiro Doi, this world-famous knife maker was born in 1927 and is considered by many to be one of the best knife makers of the moment.
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Shimomura Daimonya Deba (cleaver/fish knife) 150 mm -left-handed-Daimon-ya series Deba.
Blade made of Japanese stainless steel from the 下村工業 (Shimomura Kougyou) factory. This short, thick knife was developed for splitting meat and fish and is widely used in Japan for preparing whole…€ 79,00 € 49,00-17%
Shimomura Daimonya Yanagiba (Fish knife/sashimi knife) 200 mm -left-handed-Daimonya series Yanagiba.
Blade made of Japanese stainless steel. This long thin knife was developed for cutting meat and fish (sashimi) and is widely used in Japan for preparing fish for sushi/sashimi. This knife is sharpened on…€ 59,00 € 49,00
Shimomura Sobakiri (Japanese soba knife), 215 mmJapanese Soba cutter (Sobakiri),
Japanese style soba cutter of Japanese stainless steel. This knife is intended for cutting Japanese buckwheat noodles (Soba). The blade is very thin and manually sharpened and has no thickenings…€ 49,00-13%
Sakai Shigekatsu Yanagiba (Fish knife), 270 mmSakai Shigekatsu Yanagiba
This beautiful Japanese fish knife has a classic single-sided sharpened blade. The knife has a core of Japanese SK carbon steel and a traditional handle of Honoki wood. This knife is completely forged by…€ 159,00 € 139,00Lefty!
Sakai Shigekatsu Usuba (vegetable knife), 180 mm -Left handed-Sakai Shigekatsu Usuba
This beautiful Japanese vegetable knife has a classic single-sided sharpened blade for left-handed use. The knife has a core of Japanese Shirogami carbon steel and has a traditional handle of Honoki wood.…€ 159,00
Sakai Shigekatsu deba (Japanese Cleaver), 165 mm -Left handed-Sakai Shigekatsu Deba
This beautiful Japanese cleaver for meat and fish has a classic single-sided sharpened blade for left-handed use. The knife has a core of Japanese carbon steel and has a traditional handle of Honoki wood.…€ 179,00
