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 |