Ditch the Dull Blades and Embrace Precision With Our 8 Favorite Japanese Knives (2024)

Some knives skirt the edge between styles. The super popular Mac Knife Series Hollow Edge Chef's Knife won Best Overall in our Chef’s Knives Test, which is no small feat. “The Mac has a very nice evenly balanced feel to it between the weight of the blade and the handle,” says Hunter Lewis, Editor-in-Chief of Food & Wine. “It feels solid and good in my hand, and it has a good weight and balance that makes it an all-purpose chef's knife for people with medium to large hands.” The Mac is designed for a multitude of purposes and makes easy work of most ingredients, thanks to the hollowed notches of the blade, which helps release stickier items. The Pakkawood handle doesn’t slip in hand, which makes all cutting with the alloy steel blade feel more secure.

A Gyuto is one of the most versatile knives because it can be used with vegetables, fish, and meat. It resembles a Western-style knife since it has a rounded blade, which enables you to rock the knife while chopping. You don’t want to butcher anything with very large bones, though. That necessitates a cleaver or deba. Tojiro is an excellent and reliable brand, and the DP Gyuto Knife performed so well in our tests that it ranked well among all types of Japanese knives. “Pretty much every line cook who has bought their first Japanese knife bought a Tojiro DP Gyuto, and they're all super stoked to have it,” says Behn. “I’ve gifted many to chefs over the years.” When testing the DP, we found it cut through tomatoes like butter with no snagging of the skin or mushing the juice out.

Santokus are a great multipurpose Japanese knife for everyday use. Its rounded tip and hollowed blade make it suitable for chopping and slicing meat, fish, and vegetables. It is less sharp than a gyuto. Masamato’s santoku ranked high during our Japanese knife testing. During our trials, we found it simply designed but attractive with no frills. It has a gorgeous water buffalo horn and a natural magnolia wood handle. Its blade is rust-resistant and made from powdered high-speed steel. The knife is made in the style the company has used for six generations, as it was founded at the end of the Edo period in Japan. With the right care, you can trust the craftsmanship, and the knife will last you a long time.

A nakiri is made just for vegetables. The rectangular knife typically has a thinner blade, which makes it easier to make precise cuts. It is less versatile than something like a Santoku that can also handle other items like fish and meat. Instead, this knife is best used when cutting down versus rocking. Tojiro topped the charts when we tested nakiri knives, and they come in a range of prices. They are incredibly nimble and sharp, making cutting through things without force easier — especially good characteristics when cutting hard vegetables like carrots. This mid-range model has a micarta handle, and the Damascus blade is made using 37 layers of low-carbon and high-carbon stainless steel folded over the thick core of cobalt alloy steel.

Debas have strong, thick blades that are good for small bones and cartilage. They usually are shorter blades, which makes them easier to maneuver with meat like poultry. The design helps remove tails and heads from fish and is incredibly durable. Again, if you are breaking down a larger animal with thick bones, this is not the knife for that. Reach for a cleaver instead. Debas sometimes come in shorter styles, such as this one, which is also only $55. The handle has a Water Buffalo horn bolster with magnolia wood, and its blade is single-edge Shiroko high carbon white steel. We recommend spending more for a Deba because sturdiness is crucial for safety when dealing with butchery. Yoshihiro’s artisans are experienced craftspeople who make each knife by hand — going on 100 years! They recommend oiling blades with Tsubaki oil between uses.

There are numerous Japanese knives for slicing sushi and sashimi, although most home cooks don’t need such specific knives. We like a Sujihiki for home use because it can help with slicing fish, but it also is an excellent carving knife. “If we don't mention Kikuichi, we're definitely doing something wrong here,” says Behn. “They started making knives 700 years ago. I love them so much because of that storied history. They made samurai swords until the Meiji restoration, when samurai swords were illegal. So they just switched and started making kitchen knives. The fit and finish are always immaculate, and they are easily one of my favorite brands with so many options from $85 all the way up to $600.” If you don’t want to spend that much, this Kai Yanagiba, which is for finer fish work, is only $63.

Due to the specialization of knives, what protein you are butchering leads to what you should buy. Boning knives are no exception. We recommend a Gokujo, which is adept at handling fish, poultry, and red meat. The Shun Gokujo actually won among all the boning knives we tested. The stained Pakkawood handle and hammered Damascus steel are gorgeous to behold. While you have to handle Shun blades with care, this boning knife still makes easy work of detailed butchering such as trimming. The blade curves up, which helps remove meat from the bone with leverage contending with tougher cuts.

The best Japanese bread knives make easy work of slicing even the softest bread without squashing the crumb. Many are just as beautiful as any other Japanese knife variety, with serrated blades to make easy work of milk bread or tomatoes for summer sandwiches. During our testing, we awarded the Miyabi best in the design category because it’s just that gorgeous. Miyabi’s knives are exceptional in many ways, which is why Behn calls them his favorite brand. We like this knife for more than its looks, though. It is incredibly sharp, thanks to how it’s honed using the historic Honbazuke method. Just make sure you keep it very dry before storing it so the blade doesn’t rust.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do you sharpen Japanese knives, and how often should you do it?

  If you are not getting your knives sharpened at all, enlisting a professional like Behn is a good idea. However, you also need to sharpen it at home with a whetstone. He assesses when to sharpen his knives by cutting an onion, or the onion test, if you will. “Six months is what I personally recommend based on my onion experience,” says Behn. “I'm cutting an onion, and it slips on the paper, or there's just like juice all over the place; that's when I know something needs to change. It should not slide on the skin.” Whetstones are a perfectly good way to sharpen your own knives at home, and we have some favorites. Moshi Moshi uses water-cooled sharpening machines (such as a Tormek) and different whetstones from brands (like Shapton, Kitayama, Naniwa, and Mizuyama) from 120 to 12,000 grit.

• What is the most versatile Japanese knife?

  It depends on who you ask. Some will say the santoku, but we find the rounded tip limiting when we need a point. The gyuto is best as it will allow you to cut vegetables and proteins easily, making it the most versatile. Since Japanese knives are specific, even multi-purpose knives — such as the gyuto and santoku — are multi-purpose for specific categories. Still, even the most multi-purpose knives have their limitations. “You wouldn’t use a gyuto to butcher a pig,” according to Behn. “It would end up all chipped.” Still, if we had to pick, we would choose a Japanese-style chef’s knife such as the Mac Knife Series Hollow Edge Chef's Knife.

• How can I extend the lifetime of my Japanese knives?

  Aside from proper care and maintenance, which we have detailed above, Behn has some cutting techniques that might extend your blade’s sharpness between sharpening sessions. Cutting boards matter. “As long as you don’t have bamboo, granite, or glass. Bamboo is the tricky one. It tears up the knife due to the compounds such as silicone used to stabilize the wood." Behn recommends plastic and wood cutting boards like these.

• What are the best brands of Japanese knives?

  Behn narrows his choices for best Japanese knife brands to Miyabi, Shun, and Tojiro. Miyabi is the most expensive, Shun moderate, and Tojiro a great value brand low on bells and whistles. He says Tojiro is the most durable and is less about the design, although they do have high-end options. That said, minimalists may like its simplicity. “Every cook is gifted Shuns by their parents and uncles because they look fancy.” Beyond looks, they are great knives that come in a range of styles and functions. Finally, although the most expensive of the three, Miyabi, his favorite and one of ours as well, gets you a top-end knife. It constantly performs well in our tests, and we recommend the brand often.

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