MAGIC
KIRIDASHI 18MM - BLUE STEEL KUROUCHI
KIRIDASHI·MARKING + PRECISION
First decision
Single-bevel or double-bevel?
Before shape, before size, before steel: this is the choice. It splits the Japanese knife family in half and decides what the blade is for.
Double-bevel
両刃
Sharpened on both sides at a symmetric angle (typically 15-18 degrees per side). The Western standard, also dominant in modern Japanese kitchens. Cuts straight down.
Strengths
- +Ambidextrous, works in any hand
- +Easier to learn to sharpen
- +Versatile across protein, vegetable, herb
- +The geometry most modern chefs already know
Trade-offs
- -Slightly thicker edge than single-bevel
- -Doesn't draw through fish as cleanly as a yanagiba
Best for: almost everything. Gyuto, santoku, bunka, petty, nakiri, sujihiki, honesuki are all double-bevel.
Group 1 of 3
The blades sushi was invented around.
Three single-bevel knives. Each one does a single job, and does it better than any double-bevel ever could.
Yanagiba
柳刃
Single-bevel
The sashimi knife. Long, slim, single-bevelled, designed to draw through fish in a single uninterrupted pull from heel to tip. The geometry suppresses surface tearing so the cut surface stays glossy.
Best for: sashimi, nigiri toppings, any portion of fish that goes on a plate raw.
Browse yanagiba →
Deba
出刃
Single-bevel
The fish butchery knife. Thick spine, heavy, single-bevelled. Built to cleave through bone and cartilage without chipping the edge. Weight does the work, let the blade fall.
Best for: breaking down whole fish. The deba does the butchery so the yanagiba can do the finishing.
Browse deba →
Usuba
薄刃
Single-bevel
The vegetable knife. Tall, flat, single-bevelled, the blade that makes katsuramuki possible: a daikon peeled into a single continuous sheet of vegetable. Push-cut only, no rocking.
Best for: Japanese-style vegetable work. Decorative cuts, tsuma, garnish at sashimi precision.
Browse usuba →
Group 2 of 3
If you only own one.
Four double-bevel knives that handle most of what a kitchen throws at them. If you're starting your Japanese knife collection, start here.
Gyuto
牛刀
Double-bevel
The Japanese chef knife. Curved belly for rocking, pointed tip for fine work, mid-height blade. The most versatile blade in any kit: proteins, vegetables, herbs, anything that fits on the board.
Best for: everything. If you buy one Japanese knife, this is it.
Browse gyuto →
Santoku
三徳
Double-bevel
Three virtues, fish, meat, vegetable. A shorter, flatter blade than the gyuto, with a sheep-foot tip that protects the cutting hand. Push-cut friendly. Easier to handle in a home-sized kitchen.
Best for: the home cook. The Japanese answer to the Western chef knife.
Browse santoku →
Bunka
文化
Double-bevel
Versatile all-purpose blade with a reverse-tanto K-tip. Santoku-sized body with a sharp angled tip that controls fine work like no flat-belly knife can. The home cook's do-it-all knife with character.
Best for: cooks who want santoku versatility plus a tip that handles fine slicing and scoring.
Browse bunka →
Kiritsuke
切付
Double-bevel
The hybrid. Gyuto length, yanagiba spirit, K-tip, the angled chisel point that gives the kiritsuke its silhouette. Traditionally a head-chef's blade in a Japanese kitchen, earned, not bought.
Best for: confident cooks wanting a long all-purpose knife with character.
Browse kiritsuke →
Group 3 of 3
Tools that earn their place.
Five double-bevel specialists. None of them is your first knife. All of them solve a specific problem better than anything else in the rack.
Sujihiki
筋引
Double-bevel
The double-bevel slicer. A yanagiba's geometry rebuilt for Western kitchens. Long enough to draw through a roast in one pass. Narrow enough to glide between bone and meat.
Best for: brisket, prime rib, roasts, fish carved Western-style. The closest a double-bevel gets to single-bevel finesse.
Browse sujihiki →
Nakiri
菜切
Double-bevel
The double-bevel vegetable knife. Flat edge, square tip, no curve, built for push-cuts on a board. A daily-driver answer to the usuba: less ceremonial, easier to maintain, just as effective.
Best for: home cooks who do a lot of vegetable prep and don't want to learn single-bevel sharpening.
Browse nakiri →
Petty
ペティ
Double-bevel
The utility knife. Short, pointed, agile, for jobs that ask too much of a paring knife and too little of a gyuto. The blade that lives on the second cutting board.
Best for: mincing shallots, segmenting citrus, trimming a fillet. The companion to a gyuto.
Browse petty →
Honesuki
骨スキ
Double-bevel
The Japanese boning knife. Sharply pointed tip, triangular profile, rigid spine, built to part poultry at the joint without sawing.
Best for: breaking down whole birds. Also rabbit, small game, fine fish butchery where deba is too heavy.
Browse honesuki →
Kiridashi
切出小刀
Single-bevel
A marking knife. Single piece of hardened tool steel, ground to a chisel edge, no separate handle. Precision work that asks too much of a paring knife.
Best for: scoring nori, trimming maki ends square, marking fish skin before a slice.
Browse kiridashi →
Cheat sheet
If you do this, get that.
A short version, for cooks who don't want to read all twelve cards.
If: Mostly home cooking, want one knife
Get: Gyuto (or santoku if your kitchen is small)
If: Sushi or sashimi, serious about it
Get: Yanagiba, plus a deba if you butcher whole fish
If: Lots of vegetable prep
Get: Nakiri (or usuba if you want to learn single-bevel)
If: A versatile knife with character
Get: Bunka or kiritsuke
If: Carving roasts, slicing brisket, Western proteins
Get: Sujihiki
If: Breaking down whole poultry
Get: Honesuki
If: Detail and finishing work
Get: Petty as the second knife on the board, kiridashi for scoring and marking
How we curate
Knives we'd put on the line.
Every knife in our catalogue has been used by Ethan in a working sushi kitchen before it hit the site. We source from traditional makers in Sakai and Seki, plus a small group of newer-generation smiths working with powder steels.
We don't carry every brand, only the ones that earn the rack. If a maker's quality slips, we drop them.