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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 |
