Japanese Knives

Japanese kitchen knives are engineered differently from their European counterparts: harder steel ... more

Japanese kitchen knives are engineered differently from their European counterparts: harder steel (typically 60–66 HRC versus 56–58 for German knives), a thinner blade geometry, and a single or asymmetric bevel on most traditional styles. The result is a sharper initial edge that holds longer on fine work, in exchange for a blade that requires more care — harder steel chips rather than rolls, and Japanese knives are sharpened on whetstones, not honing steels.

The styles that matter in a professional kitchen: gyuto (the all-purpose chef's knife, double-bevelled, 210–270mm); santoku (shorter, flatter belly, better for push-cutting vegetables); yanagiba (long single-bevel slicer for sashimi and raw fish); deba (heavy single-bevel for breaking down whole fish); nakiri (double-bevel vegetable knife, flat for full board contact). For most kitchens, a gyuto plus a yanagiba covers 90% of Japanese knife requirements.

SushiSushi sources directly from Japanese makers and specialist importers. All knives in the range are restaurant-grade — not the mid-range that has flooded UK retail over the last decade.

Read the Japanese Kitchen Knives Masterclass