“Sushi Knife” and “Sashimi Knife” refers to "Wa-bocho" or the traditional Japanese style kitchen knives in a narrow sense. But now they sometimes represent whole Japanese kitchen knives worldwide outside Japan.

The Hocho is considered the most important tool for professional and amateur cooks, and a Japanese proverb says "The Hocho is the soul of the cook". Here, we're pleased to show you the comprehensive and detailed explanation about Japanese Sushi & Sashimi knives in this article.

In the high-end series for professional use, the Japanese-style kitchen knives are generally said still have better sharpness than the Western-style ones because of the better combination of production method, structure and materials, and are indispensable existence in the Japanese-style dish which requires delicate handling and razor-sharpness for especially slicing raw fish for Sashimi and Sushi in which a cutting end surface divides superiority or inferiority.

Originally, all Japanese kitchen knives - Hocho - clearly show their relation to the Samurai sword. The blades are forged traditionally in multiple layers, with an inner core of hard and brittle carbon steel, forgewelded with a thick layer of soft and more ductile iron steel sandwiched around the core so that the hard steel is exposed only at the cutting edge. Only this elaborate procedure ensures an optimum synthesis of breaking strength and ultimate sharpness.

The shape of these knives has developed solely from their intended purpose, which gives them an aesthetic quality not remotely influenced by fashion trends. The light wooden handles, the well-balanced design and the extraordinary sharpness make using Hocho a remarkable experience.

Nowadays stainless steel is often used for Japanese kitchen knives, and multi-layer laminated blade structure (so-called "Damascus") is used in more expensive blades to add corrosion resistance while maintaining strength and durability.

Japan has developed the aesthetics of food preparation like no other country, with the Hocho. Using the Hocho, the chef celebrates the art of cutting, which makes the preparation of fine fish and delicate vegetables a feast for the eyes. The razorsharp cut doesn’t crush the cells, the juice is retained, and the natural flavour of the foods comes into its own.

The oldest kitchen knives found in Japan are those made in the Nara period, around 8th century. They are now kept in “Shosoin”, the treasure house of the Todaiji temple in Nara. The knives look like primitive Japanese swords.

Much high-quality Japanese knives originates from Sakai in Osaka, Japan, the capital of samurai sword manufacturing since the 14th century. The Sakai knives industry started in the 16th century mainly for guns and swords during the Sengoku period (period of warring states in Japan). After the Sengoku period, Sakai had to change their industry to kitchen knives from such weapons. Through this process, the production method of swords was successfully applied to Japanese kitchen knives for excellent sharpness.

Production Area

The representative production areas of Traditional Japanese Kitchen Knives are Sakai (Osaka), Seki (Gifu), Tsubame/Sanjyo (Niigata), Sabae & Takefu (Echizen, Fukui), Miki (Banshu, Hyogo) and Tosa (Kochi). It is said that around 90% of the professional Japanese-style-food chefs in Japan use the knives made in Sakai.