What's the difference between Japanese and Western knives?

The difference between Japanese and Western knives

Japanese knives might imply in some way that they are made for Japanese cuisine. Therefore, what do we mean by Western knives? If you don't know the difference between the characteristics, let's start with these two types of knives.

Characteristics of Japanese knives

Recently, stainless steel knives have been made, but Japanese knives are essentially made by combining steel and soft iron. To combine soft iron and hard steel, the good points of these two metals, result in knives that are difficult to break and sharp.

Japanese knives have double-edged blades, but they may only have one in very rare cases. Their cutting edge is the best and  it allows cutting without damaging the cross-sectional structure of the ingredients. Japanese knives are therefore recommended for handling fish, decorating and slicing.

Since the blade is delicate due to its sharpness,  it is easy for the blade to tip over and you need to be careful when cleaning it.

Typical examples are the Deba knives and sashimi knives. Sashimi knives are also called Yanagi blade knives. In addition, fine-blade knives, vegetable knives, eel knives, eel knives, fugu knives, and noodle knives that cut soba and udon are also classified as Japanese knives.

Characteristics of Western knives

Western knives are generally  double-edged. The main purpose of western knives is meat cutting, therefore, the main goal is "push cutting", in which force is firmly applied  to cut the fibers of the meat. On the other hand, sashimi knives are  "drawn out"  to give you the chance to pull them towards you.

There are various types of knives depending on the purpose of use, but I think the ones you know are  the "chef's knives" and the "Santoku knives". Because of their different possibility, they are increasingly being used at home as  versatile kitchen knives. Western knives are sorted into several categories, in small knives, striations / carving knives, meat knives / butcher's knives, slicers, butter knives, cheese knives, etc.

What are the materials of kitchen knives?

Kitchen knife materials are roughly divided into "steel", "stainless steel" and "ceramic".

Stainless steel and ceramic are mainly used for Western knives, and steel is often used for Japanese knives, but of course, there are also ceramic Japanese knives and steel Western knives. It is a good idea to choose the type of kitchen knife according to the intended use and the kitchen knife that suits you based on the material characteristics.