Japanese Knife Encyclopedia & Glossary

Five practical rules for Japanese knives

• Geometry matters as much as steel: How thin the blade is behind the edge affects how a knife cuts as much as its hardness number does.
• Start with one good knife: A single all-purpose knife (a 210mm gyuto or a 165–180mm santoku or bunka) and, if you like, a small petty covers most home cooking. Spend on those before buying a set.
• Hand-wash and dry at once: Skip the dishwasher. Choose wood or good rubber boards over glass, stone or ceramic, which dull and can chip a hard edge.
• No bones, frozen food or twisting: Hard, thin Japanese edges can chip if they are levered against bone, pits or hard rinds.
• Damascus patterns are mostly decorative: The pattern comes from layering steels; how the knife cuts depends mainly on the core steel and the grind.

Written by Knife Fit from the sources listed under each entry; not the result of testing. Reviewed 29 Oct 2026. Report a correction