What's a Bunka? A Beginner's Guide to Japan's Most Underrated Chef Knife

Hi — let's talk about the two knives almost everyone considers first. If you've spent any time looking at Japanese knives, you've already met them: the Gyuto (Japan's take on the Western chef knife) and the Santoku (the friendly multi-tasker). They show up in every brand's catalog. They cover most of the same tasks. They cost similar money. So: which one first? The honest answer is "it depends on how you cook." This post is going to make that depends-on actually useful instead of cop-out vague. In one paragraph A Gyuto is a long (210–240mm), curved Japanese chef knife designed to do everything a Western chef knife does, with thinner steel and a finer edge. A Santoku is shorter (165–180mm), flatter, and squarer — it's faster on a small cutting board and more confident on vegetables, but loses range on big proteins. Pick a Gyuto if you cook in real volumes or break down meat at home. Pick a Santoku if your kitchen is small, your hands prefer something lighter, or vegetables are most of what passes under your knife. Side by side Feature Gyuto Santoku Length 210mm or 240mm 165–180mm Edge profile Curved (slight belly) Mostly flat Tip Pointed, ready to break down a fish or chicken Sheepsfoot — drops down, no real point Cutting motion Rocks happily; pushes well Pushes; doesn't rock Best at Long meat strokes, big vegetables, mise for many Quick veg, small proteins, dense kitchens Weak at Cramped boards Big roasts, breaking down a chicken, long fish fillets First Japanese knife? If you cook a lot If you cook compactly Length is destiny The single biggest thing that separates them in real life is length. A 210mm Gyuto is long — it eats cutting board real estate, it slices through a watermelon in one stroke, and on a small kitchen counter it can feel like swinging a sword. A 165mm Santoku just fits. If your cutting board is smaller than 35cm, a 240mm Gyuto will frustrate you. A 210mm Gyuto is borderline. A Santoku is at home. If you regularly cook for six or do real prep — breaking down a whole chicken, slicing a brisket, making a stir-fry from a mountain of vegetables — the Gyuto's reach is a different category of pleasure. Edge profile matters more than people say A Gyuto has a curved belly — the cutting edge dips down, then sweeps back up to the tip. This is what lets it rock. (Rocking = tip stays planted, heel goes up and down. Western chef knife motion.) A Santoku is almost flat — the edge is mostly straight along the bottom, then takes a sharp drop into the sheepsfoot tip. You can't rock it. You push. (Push cutting = lift the heel, drive forward, slice through, lift again.) This isn't a small thing. If you grew up rocking a Wüsthof and you buy a Santoku, you'll fight it for a month. The knife is not broken — it's asking you to learn a different motion. (And once you do, you'll cut faster.) If you don't want to relearn how you cut: get the Gyuto. The "small hands" myth, mostly People sometimes say "Santoku is for smaller hands." That's half-true and half-not. What's true: a 165mm Santoku is lighter and shorter than a 240mm Gyuto, so it's less tiring in a small hand over a long session. What's not true: a 210mm Gyuto isn't unwieldy for a smaller person. The handle is the same size as a Santoku's. It's the blade length that's different, not the grip. If you have small hands but love long blades: get a 210mm Gyuto. Don't talk yourself into a Santoku you don't want. Who each one is for, plainly Get a Gyuto if you: Cook proteins regularly (whole chickens, big steaks, fish fillets) Have a generous cutting board (40cm+) Like rocking through onions and herbs Want one knife that does almost everything Get a Santoku if you: Cook mostly vegetables and quick weeknight food Have a small kitchen and small board Already have a Western chef knife and want a second-knife contrast Want to learn push-cutting (Japanese style) from scratch Skip both and get a Bunka if you: Want the Santoku's flat edge and the Gyuto's tip in one knife. (We wrote about Bunkas here.) What about steel? Both shapes come in everything: stainless VG-10, carbon Aogami, powdered SG2, you name it. Don't let steel choice override shape choice. Pick the shape that fits how you cook, then pick a steel that fits how you maintain. (Aogami vs Shirogami here.) A practical pick If you're new and budget-curious: Tojiro DP Gyuto 210mm or DP Santoku 170mm. VG-10, stainless, honest geometry, won't punish a learner. If you want to step up: Hatsukokoro Hayabusa Gyuto 210mm or Sakai Takayuki Ginsan Santoku 180mm. Real Japanese geometry, real Japanese steel, real difference in feel. Browse all Gyutos → Browse all Santokus → — The Upscale Living team

Hi — let's talk about Hatsukokoro. If you're scrolling through the catalog you'll see the name everywhere: Hayabusa, Kumokage, Saihyo, Ryuhyo. They look different, the steel changes, the prices shift. And yet the badge on every box says the same thing. That's because Hatsukokoro doesn't make any knives. Stay with me — that's the whole point. In one paragraph Hatsukokoro is a Japanese knife brand-house: a curator that partners with master smiths across Japan and brings their work out under one name. Each line — Hayabusa, Kumokage, Saihyo, Ryuhyo, and others — comes from a specific forge with a specific steel and a specific finish. The lineup is intentionally broad. Pick a Hatsukokoro and you're getting a smith's work; pick a line and you're choosing what kind of knife you want to live with. Why "brand-house"? In other Japanese knife brands you'll meet, one workshop forges everything — the same family hammers and finishes every blade that goes out the door. With Hatsukokoro the model is different. The name is the project; the smiths are the project leads. This is closer to how clothing labels work than how most knife shops do. A house signs work from many hands, applies a shared editorial eye, and sells under one banner. The upside for you, the buyer: a single brand can cover almost every price point and use case without the catalog feeling random. The lines, plainly This isn't an exhaustive list — Hatsukokoro adds and rotates lines — but these are the ones you're most likely to see at Upscale Living right now. Hayabusa. Aogami Super (carbon, very hard, holds an edge for ages) under a clean kurouchi or migaki finish. The workhorse pick. If you want a Hatsukokoro that you'll use, Hayabusa is usually the answer. (For more on what Aogami is, see our Aogami vs Shirogami guide.) Kumokage. Aogami #2 with a kurouchi blackened finish and damascus cladding. Steel is slightly softer than Hayabusa's Super (which makes it more forgiving on the stones), and the look is more dramatic — the cloud-shadow patterning is where the name comes from. Saihyo. SG2 powdered steel with damascus polish. Stainless, holds a very long edge, gets polished bright at the factory. This is the line for cooks who don't want to think about wiping the blade dry every five minutes. Ryuhyo. SG2 with a more refined migaki finish, often in flagship geometries (longer gyutos, sleeker grinds). The dressier sibling of Saihyo. The pattern: Hayabusa for the daily driver, Kumokage if you want the look and don't mind a little patina, Saihyo for stainless ease, Ryuhyo for showpieces. Who's actually making them? This is the part Hatsukokoro doesn't shout about: each line corresponds to a real, named smith. We won't list specific name-to-line pairings here because the partnerships shift over time and we'd rather you ask us than rely on a stale internet guess. But if you want to know who forged a particular knife you're looking at, message us — we'll tell you what we know. The point isn't trivia. It's that when you pick up a Hayabusa, that geometry isn't a marketing decision — it's how that smith forges. When you switch to a Kumokage, you're holding a different person's hand on the hammer. How to pick your first one If you've never owned a Japanese knife: go Hayabusa Bunka 180mm or Hayabusa Gyuto 210mm. Aogami Super is wonderful to use, the kurouchi finish forgives water spots and patina, and the price is honest for what you're getting. (Not sure between Bunka and Gyuto? Read our Bunka guide.) If you have one Japanese knife already and want something more ambitious: Saihyo Gyuto 210mm. Stainless ease, premium steel, damascus look — a clean step up. If you're chasing the visual and you're fine maintaining carbon: Kumokage Bunka or Gyuto. Best looks per rupiah in the lineup. If you're shopping for a flagship or a gift: Ryuhyo 240mm Gyuto. Stretched geometry, premium fit, the kind of knife you keep for ten years. Care notes Hayabusa / Kumokage are carbon — wipe dry, expect a patina, oil occasionally. Saihyo / Ryuhyo are stainless — easier in the kitchen but still don't go in the dishwasher. All Hatsukokoro knives respond well to a 1000-grit whetstone every few months. Don't use a pull-through sharpener — those things will eat the geometry the smith gave you. A last word Hatsukokoro is a clever idea executed cleanly. You get a unified brand experience — consistent presentation, easy to navigate, predictable quality control — without losing the thing that makes Japanese knives interesting in the first place: that someone made this, in a specific place, with their hands. See all Hatsukokoro at Upscale Living → — The Upscale Living team

If you just bought your first carbon steel Japanese knife — or you're thinking about it and reading care guides ahead of time — welcome. We get a lot of nervous questions about carbon steel. Most of them aren't necessary. Carbon knives aren't fragile or fussy; they just have opinions. Here's what they want from you, in five short habits. Build these in and your knife will outlast your stove. Habit 1 — Wash and dry, every single time This is the most important rule. After every use: Rinse the blade with warm water (mild soap is fine; whatever you'd do for any knife) Wipe both sides dry with a clean towel — including the spine and along the edge Don't let it air-dry. Don't put it on the dish rack. Never put it in the dishwasher. In an Indonesian kitchen — humid, often beside a sink, often with someone else doing the dishes — this matters more than in a dry climate. Air at 80% humidity is enough to start surface oxidation on bare carbon steel within a few hours. Here's the part most people don't know: most modern Japanese carbon knives have a stainless cladding layer over the carbon core. Only the actual cutting edge is exposed carbon — a thin strip, maybe 2–3mm wide, at the bottom of the blade. That's the strip that needs to be properly dry. Everything else is more forgiving than internet forums make it sound. Habit 2 — Make friends with the patina The first time you cut something acidic with a new carbon knife — a tomato, a lemon, an onion — the blade will start to develop a gray-blue-purple film. This looks alarming. It is the opposite of alarming. This is patina, and it's good for the knife. Patina is a controlled oxide layer that forms a thin shield between the bare steel and air, slowing actual rust. A well-patinated blade rusts much less than a brand-new one. You can let patina form naturally over a few weeks of cooking, or you can speed it up: Mustard patina — coat the blade in plain yellow mustard, leave 10 minutes, rinse and dry. Mottled gray result. Vinegar patina — soak a paper towel in white vinegar, lay it on the blade for 10 minutes, rinse and dry. More uniform look. Onion patina — slice a few onions and don't wipe the blade between cuts. Slowest method, most natural look. What you don't want is pitting rust — orange-brown spots, often around the cutting edge. That's a maintenance miss, not patina. If you see rust: Scrub gently with a wine cork or a piece of green Scotch-Brite (don't go aggressive — it's just surface) Rinse and dry thoroughly Rub a drop of mineral oil over the area Most rust caught early comes off in under a minute. Habit 3 — Oil the blade, occasionally Once a week — or any time you know the knife will sit unused for more than 3 days — wipe a single drop of food-safe oil along the blade with a paper towel. You don't need much; a drop covers a whole knife. Options: Camellia oil (tsubaki abura) — the traditional Japanese choice. Light, doesn't go rancid, smells of nothing. Mineral oil — cheap, food-safe, equally effective. Coconut oil — works in a pinch but can get sticky in cool weather. Avoid olive oil, sesame oil, and any cooking oil with flavor — they go rancid and start to smell off after a few weeks. Habit 4 — Sharpen on a stone, gently, not often Japanese knives are sharpened on whetstones. Not pull-through sharpeners. Not honing steels. The pull-through devices you may have used for European knives strip metal and ruin the precise edge geometry that took the maker hours to grind. Don't use them on a Japanese blade. A reasonable starter setup: One combination whetstone: 1000/3000 grit or 1000/6000 grit. The 1000 side is for routine touch-ups; the higher side is for finishing. The Naniwa Super Stone, KING, and SUEHIRO all make good options at this price point. A flattening stone (after a few months) to keep your whetstone surface true. Optionally, later on: a finer stone (6000–8000) for an even more refined edge. Browse our whetstone collection when you're ready. How often should you sharpen? A healthy home cook touches up their knife on a 1000 grit stone every 6–8 weeks. A line cook does it weekly. The signal isn't dullness — it's "I have to push harder than I used to." A simple test: try slicing a piece of standard printer paper. If it cuts cleanly without snagging, your edge is fine. If you don't want to learn whetstones, the next-best path is a guided sharpening system like the Hapstone RS — it holds the angle for you, and the result is excellent. Best of both worlds: you don't have to develop the muscle memory, but you still get a real sharpening. Many of our customers start with one of these. Habit 5 — Store the knife where it can't get bashed This one is simple. Don't toss a Japanese knife into a drawer with other utensils. The edge is thin (10–15° per side, vs ~20° on a German knife) and chips if it knocks against anything metal. Three storage options that work: Saya — a wooden sheath that slides over the blade. Some knives come with one from the maker; we sell saya separately if yours didn't. Browse saya / sheaths → Magnetic bar — wall-mounted, blade hangs by the spine. Good for daily-use knives. Make sure the magnet is strong; cheap ones drop knives, which is exactly what we're avoiding. Knife roll — soft case with separate slots, good for transporting or storing a small collection. Look for ones with individual slots, not just elastic loops. What to avoid: Drawer storage with other utensils (chips the edge) Edge-up storage of any kind Stacking knives on top of each other The 90-second daily routine After cooking dinner with your carbon knife: Rinse under warm water — 10 seconds Wipe dry both sides + spine + along the edge — 30 seconds Slide it into the saya or onto the magnetic bar — 5 seconds Once a week (Sunday before dinner is a habit that sticks): A single drop of mineral oil down the blade with a paper towel — 10 seconds That's it. Do this and a well-made carbon knife will last decades. Things we sell that help Whetstones — see the whetstone collection. KING, Naniwa, Shapton, SUEHIRO across all grits. Saya / Sheaths — find one for your specific knife in Knife Storage. Sharpening systems — the Hapstone RS for guided angle work; great for beginners who want pro results. Strops — leather strops keep the edge polished between sharpenings: Cowhide Leather Strop (Hapstone) Suede Strop (Hapstone) Mineral oil — small bottle, lasts a year or two. If anything ever goes wrong, ask us Bring the knife to our Jakarta or Bali shop and we'll look at it. Surface rust we'll clean off; a chipped edge we can usually grind out; a bent tip we can correct. Most "problems" with carbon knives turn out to be 5-minute fixes that look catastrophic to someone who's never seen them before. You can also email us photos before deciding to bring it in. A knife that gets cared for is a knife that gets used. That's the only point.