Bunka vs. Santoku: The Featherweight Showdown

Bunka vs. Santoku: The Featherweight Showdown

Spotlights dim and a hush follows darkness across the crowded arena.
Electricity arcs and sparks fly from hammers on hot steel.
Coal fires fill the air with smoke that clings to your clothes and reddens your eyes.
Colours burst over the gladiator ring and ear-splitting guitar riffs spray the masses like a gatling gun.
Shadow gives way to two combatants standing nose to nose. Glistening with sweat, breathing terse and controlled, their limbs compressed springs. The angular heel, Bunka Bocho, in one corner and the virtuous San Toku in the other…
Wait a second. This can’t be what Nathan meant by, “Write a blog about Santokus vs. Bunkas.”

Santokus and bunkas are easily among the most popular knives in the shops, and with good reason—they are approachable, easy to use, and immensely versatile. A santoku can do most anything that its big brother, the gyuto, can do, and a bunka is no different. 

Santoku is often described as translating to, “three virtues,” or “three problems solved.” We’ve come to interpret that as, “this knife is perfect for meat, fish, and vegetables.” Makes sense, they can do it all.

Bunka is a Japanese word that means, “culture.” A little harder to put a finger on but not impossible. The word bunka was used a lot in 1950s Japan to describe things with a Western influence like apartments, restaurants, and foods. Bunka bocho loosely means “culture kitchen,” and hints at people becoming a little more open-minded when it came to North American and European foods.

Both knives evolved out of the nakiri, the rectangular cleaver-style blade for veggies, by clipping off the tip to create a more nimble point at some point in the 1940s. Either is generally 160mm to 190mm in length but the defining difference is the shape of the tip — a santoku has a point that curves down from the spine, while a bunka is straighter and more sword-like. Bunkas likely came first as it would be easier to cut a straight line in the 40s and 50s then it would be a smooth curve. A lot of folks feel that the delicate point of a bunka makes it better suited to those ultra-fine tasks like micro-dicing a shallot.

Some makers choose to make a bunka’s profile a little flatter and put a little more of a belly on a santoku—that would make a bunka a little better suited to push-pull chopping while a santoku might prefer some rocking action—in my experience, this is not an overarching theme, but more of a decision left to the blacksmith. Moritaka-san makes a pretty flat santoku compared to Ikeda-san whose Kumo Santoku and Kumo Bunka have nearly the same profile.

Cruising online you might come across other terminology like Hakata, Kiritsuke-style, Kengata or K-Tip santoku. These are essentially the same idea as a bunka but with minor regional differences (ie: hakata-style knives seem to have a bit of a swoopy spine that ends in a taller tip). The important thing to remember is that they are made with the same culinary purposes in mind.

At the end of the day, the winner is going to be the knife that makes you feel like a chopping block champion; some of us are motivated by craftsmanship and stories, others obsess over utility and materials. I’m a real sucker for comfy handles, flashy blades and things from folks I don’t already own—which one are you getting?

Here are a few popular picks

Fujimoto Hammer Tone SLD Santoku 165mm

Fujimoto Hammer Tone SLD Santoku 165mm
Regular price €172,00 EUR
Regular price Sale price €172,00 EUR
Sale Sold out

The Fujimoto Hammer Tone series is one of our favourites at Knifewear, forged exclusively for us. The incredible good looks are matched by outstanding performance, as the SLD steel core allows this knife to cut like high-carbon steel, without a big risk of rusting. While SLD can rust, it does so extremely slowly, so you can build a beautiful patina on your blade.

Tadafusa Hocho Kobo HK-2 Santoku 170mm

Tadafusa Hocho Kobo HK-2 Santoku 170mm
Regular price €120,00 EUR
Regular price Sale price €120,00 EUR
Sale Sold out

Need a gift for a wedding, birthday or Christmas? This guy is the way to go. It's got a clean, modern look, it cuts like crazy, and it's super ergonomic. Need I say more?

Nigara VG10 Tsuchime Damascus Bunka 180mm

Nigara VG10 Tsuchime Damascus Bunka 180mm
Regular price €161,00 EUR
Regular price Sale price €161,00 EUR
Sale Sold out

We're big fans of VG10 steel at Knifewear. It gets sharp like a lightsaber, holds an edge with the best of them, and requires no special maintenance! I love the glacier like tsuchime and smokey damascus along the primary bevel of this knife, and the guys at Nigara know their stuff: they've been making knives for 350 years.

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   Chris Lord

Chris Lord

Chris is a relocated Maritimer that can be found slinking in and out the back doors of Ottawa's restaurants, often with his daughter in tow. Chris has been a fixture in the Ottawa food scene for the past 10 years and has recently laid down his apron to learn the ways of Knifewear. Chris loves cooking big pieces of meat over a live fire and spends his summer feeding wood into his BBQ, Lemmy Smoke-mister.