Knifewear Glossary

November 21, 2017 4 min read

We use a lot of words at Knifewear. A lot of them aren't english. Here are some of our most commonly used Japanese words. This is an ever growing list, so if you see something that is missing, contact us and we'll add it in!

	TRANSLATION/DEFINITION	WHY WE CARE
Ao	Blue	Used to describe Blue carbon steel
Aogami	Blue paper	Blue carbon steel (wrapped with blue paper)
Aogami Super	Super blue paper	Super blue carbon steel
Ara-to	Coarse stone	Used to classify sharpening stones
Banno	Multipurpose / convenient	Knife shape from Takeda
Bocho / Hocho	Knife
Bunka	Culture	Knife shape (Santoku with a pointed tip)
Carbon Steel	Steel with <10.5% Chromium	Will Patina and can rust if not taken care of!
Damascus	Generic term for patterned welded steel	Damascus Steel is a famous sword material from Syria
Deba	Single-bevel fish fillet knife	Fish Butchery 105 to 210mm
Denka no Hoto	A sword treasured in the family	Fujiwara's highest quality line using Super Blue carbon steel and stainless steel cladding
Echizen	Old name for Fukui and Hokuriku area	Knives made in Takefu are called Echizen-uchi knives
Fuguhiki	Blowfish slice	Slightly thinner version of Yanagiba
Funayuki	ship and "go"	The term is in regards to a fishermen's knife. Multi-purpose knife for slicing and filleting. Takeda use this term for his Santoku
Garasuki	Slightly bigger version of honesuki	Tojiro DP 170mm honesuki
Ginsan	Sliver three	Made by Hitachi metals. Forgeable stainless steel popularly used in Sakai.
Gyuto	Cow sword	Chef knife, all purpose
Hamon	Wavy line on Honyaki knives	Is produced by differential heat treatment
Hikari	Shiny	Finish and name of a Masakage series
Honesuki	Angular boning knife	Great poultry deboning knife
Honyaki	True-forged	Knife made from one piece of hard steel, with differential heat treatment (with clay)
Ishime	Rock Surface	Finish on Moritaka Ishime knives. It was originally hunting knife finish.
Kamagata	Sickle shaped	A knife tip shaped like sickle
Kamisori	Razor	We call it the Japanese style straight razor
Kasumi	Mist	Haze on the blade (hon-kasumi) like Kitaoka Migaki. Also referring to the knives made with cladding technique
Kasumi-Uchi	Hammered Kasumi, very drunk Kasumi	Making sure you actually read this
Kataba	Single bevel edge	Single bevel knife
Kawamuki	Skin peeling knife	Moritaka Ishime knife shape
Kiri	Fog	Finish and name of a Masakage series. Stainless Damascus with VG10 core
Kiritsuke	Cut at	Slightly wider blade and has cut off tip. Hybrid of Yanagiba and Usuba. Moritaka's Kiritsuke is hybrid of Nakiri and Sujihiki
Ko	Small	Like ko-bunka (small bunka)
Koba	Small edge	We put one on single-bevel knives for added strength
Koishi	Pebbles	Finish on blade
Kujira	Whale	Finish and name of a Masakage series. Damascus steel finish made from recycle steel by Kageura san. Blue #2 core.
Kumo	Cloud	Finish and name of Masakage Kumo series
Kuro-Uchi	Black Hammered	Black finish left on the blade instead of polished. It will prevent from rusting. A lot of our knives have this finish
Kyomen	Mirror surface	Mirror finished knives. If the finish is applied to carbon steel knife, it will prevent from rusting.
Maboroshi	Vision	Name of Fujiwara knife series
Maguro	Tuna
Maguro bocho	Tuna knife	Tuna butchering knife often from 60cm to 110cm
Menkiri	Noodle cutting	General term for noodle cutting knife for Udon and Soba
Migaki	Polished	Polished finish on knives, but not as polished as mirror.
Mioroshi	Fish fillet	Slightly narrower and thinner deba. Fishermen carry this knife to do everything. Hybrid ofYanagiba and Deba.
Miyabi	elegant, Graceful	Japanese made line of Henckels
Mizu	Water	Finish and name of a Masakage series. Blue #2 steel. No stainless steel. Lacquer finish.
Momiji	Maple leaf
Nagura	Small stone (synthetic or natural) to refresh surface of ne stones.	Mikawa nagura, Kuro nagura
Nakiri	Leafy Veggie cutter	Knife shape great for vegetable
Nashiji	Pear skin finish	Finish on blade
Ni-Mai	Two layers	Cladding for single bevel knives
Patina	Protective oxidation (often dark)	This will happen on all carbon knives with time and proper care
Petty	Small from French language	Knife shape, great utility knife
Rockwell Scale	Rating of hardness (HRC or RC)	Kitchen knives vary from 52-68.
Ryoba	Double bevel edge	Knife that equally sharpened from both sides
Sakai	City in Osaka	Famous for single bevel knives. 90% of professional chefs in Japan use knives from this city
Sakura	Cherry blossom
San-mai	Three layers	Most knives we have
Sanjo	City in Niigata prefecture	famous for handmade knives
Santoku	Three virtues	Knife shape, great for slicing, dicing and mincing
Sasanoha	Bamboo leaf	Knife shape whose height is between Sujihiki and Gyuto made by Takeda
Saya	Wooden sheath	Some series come with them
Seki	City in Gifu prefecture famous for factory made kitchen knives. Also 700yrs history of sword making	Shun, Miyabi, Mcusta
Shimo	Frost	Finish and name of a Masakage series. Shirogami #2 with carbon steel X-pattern Damascus.
Shinogi-Suji	The line separates primary bevel and belly of the knife.
Shiro	White	Used to describe White carbon steel
Shirogami	White paper	White carbon steel (wrapped with white paper)
Shun	Seasonal	Knife brand by Kershaw made by Kai in Seki
Sobakiri	Soba cutting	A knife for cutting soba noodles. Very tall and has very flat edge
Stainless Steel	Steel with >10.5% Chromium	It will not develop a patina
Steel	Iron and Carbon alloy	All our knives are made of steel!
Sujihiki	Flesh slicer	Knife shape, great for slicing meat and carving
Suminagashi	Damascus pattern on knives	It is referring to Ink swirling pattern on paper. It looks amazing
Takefu	City in Fukui	Known for Echizen knives, also where most of the Masakage knives are from
Takefu Special Steel	Steel company in Fukui	Known for VG-series and SG2
Takobiki	Octopus slice	Sashimi slicing knife.The tip of the knife is cut off straight
Tamahagane		Steel used on certain kamisori and Japanese swords
Toishi	Sharpening stone
Tosa	City in Kochi prefecture famous for handmade knives. Known for their Kurouchi knives	Murata
Tsuchime	Hammered	Hammered Finish on blade
Uchi	Hit or hammered	Often referred as "made in", i.e. Echizen-uchi, Sakai-uchi, Tosa-uchi
Uchigumo	Cloud patterned paper	Name of Takamura knife series
Usuba	Thin knife	Single bevel knife for vegetables
Wa	Japanese style	Knife with a Japanese handle
Yanagiba	Willow blade knife	Single bevel knife for slicing
Yo-	Western	Put this in front of words to make it Western
Yuki	Snow	Finish and name of a Masakage series. Yuki has basically Nashiji finish

Naoto Fujimoto

Naoto came to Canada in 2007 and we aren't letting him go back. After getting angry with his roommate's dull knives, he started to dream of sharp Japanese knives. Naoto graduated from the University of Calgary with a bachelor degree of art, majoring International Relations and finds that selling Japanese knives is his own way of doing international relations. Naoto is our Cultural Ambassador bridging Japan and Canada. You can also see him in SpringHammer looking cool and holding it all together.