What Is a Deba Knife? Features, Uses, and How to Choose
A Deba knife is a traditional Japanese kitchen knife designed primarily for filleting fish. It features a thick, solid single-edged blade that allows chefs to perform precise tasks such as cutting through fish bones and removing heads cleanly. Although mainly used for fish, the Deba knife can also be used for breaking down poultry. However, it is not a “butcher’s knife” for chopping heavy bones—instead, it excels at carefully separating meat from small bones, such as when preparing chicken.
This knife is said to have originated in Sakai, Osaka, a city renowned for its long history of knife-making. Interestingly, the name “Deba” came from the word “Deppa”, meaning “bucktooth” in Japanese — a humorous nod to the craftsman who first created it.
In this article, we’ll explain the key features, ideal uses, and how to choose the right Deba knife, along with maintenance tips. We’ll also introduce JIKKO’s recommended Deba knives, crafted with the sharpness and precision that have defined Sakai’s tradition for over 120 years.
Deba Knife’s Basic Features and How to Choose the Knife
Sakai city in Osaka, is famous as being one of the big production areas of single-edged knives: Sakai Hamono. JIKKO was established in Sakai as well. A single-edged Deba knife is said to have originated from Osaka, and that 90% of the Japanese cuisine chefs got their Deba knives from Sakai Hamono; it is such a spectacular knife! We can’t say that you can keep using the same Deba knife for all of your life, but if it is properly sharpened and maintained, there are people who have kept on using the same knife for over 30 years.
The sashimi knife above once had a 45 cm blade. Over years of use, it has been ground down to less than half its original length and one-third its width — yet it remains perfectly functional, a testament to skilled sharpening and care.
From here, we will explain about the features of the Deba knife, and the right size to choose for you.
The Sharpness and Shape is an Important Factor
Deba knives are suited for filleting a fish, and have important features like Shonogi line, as well as the back concave (Urasuki). The advantages of being single-edged, is that when cutting fish, the blade sharply goes into what you are cutting, and the angle it has makes it smooth to slice along with the fish bones. The Urasuki on the backside of the Deba makes the food not stick as much, which makes it easier for the food to be separated from the knife.
Front
中子tang マチjoint 峰spine 平flat シノギ線shinogi line
柄handle 口輪muzzle アゴchin 刃元heel 切り刃cutting edge 刃先edge アール(そり)curve 切っ先tip
Back
裏押しback flat rim 裏スキback concave 刃境back border
Usually, a single-edged knife such as Deba knife or Sashimi knife is right-handed. But at JIKKO, we carry left-handed knives as well, so feel free to ask us about it.
Choosing the Right Blade Length and Size
When filleting the fish, if you move the blade too much, you won’t be able to clearly cut off the fish, and could make the cutting edge jagged, which can drop the flavor of the fish. To avoid doing so, it is best to choose the Deba depending on the size of the fish you’re filleting.
縦幅height (vertical width)
背骨backbone
横幅 width
When choosing a Deba knife, it is best to choose depending on the height (vertical width) of the fish. If the knife is too small, you need to cut the fish several times, and you may not be able to cut it as well. By having the knife’s blade length same as the height of the fish, you can cleanly cut apart the fish; when you insert the blade in a 45 degree angle, the blade will be parallel to the backbone of the fish, and you can just cut alongside the bone.
A properly sized Deba knife makes it possible to fillet fish cleanly and efficiently. In Japanese sushi and washoku restaurants, you can often see chefs skillfully filleting fish — a scene that fascinates many visitors to Japan. Especially for thick-fleshed fish like tuna, a longer Deba is particularly effective, allowing Japanese sushi chefs to separate the meat cleanly without damaging the texture.
For beginners, however, we recommend starting with a Deba around 150–180 mm in blade length, as Deba knives are heavier than regular kitchen knives and larger sizes can be difficult to handle at first.
The Ease of Use from its’ Thickness and Specific Parts of the Knife
・The excellent sharpness of the single-edged knives
・The thick blade and its high durability
・The different blade length size to choose from
One of the advantages that the Deba knife has, is the single-edged blade features. The edge of the blade is sharp and pointy, which helps the chef to effectively cut into the fish meat, and smoothly cut and fillet the fish.
Next, the thickness of the blade and the high durability is highly acknowledged. Because Deba knives are thick, it is less likely for it to chip when cutting down the food, and has hard-to-break, durable properties. By using it along with your daily knives, the damages to the knives are alleviated, so that you can use your knives for a long time.
On top of that, having different blade length to choose from is another advantage it has. You can choose the blade length depending on the purpose of your preferences, and let you have more efficient preparation time when cooking. A Deba knife can cut down not just fishes; it can also cut solid pieces of meat or vegetables, and is quite useful to use even for household use. Because of its various features and versatility, Deba knives are useful in a wide range of cooking situations.
Materials and Maintenance Methods of Deba Knife
Before we dive in, if you’d like to learn more about sharpening and caring for your Deba knife in detail, please check out our full guide here:
Master the Art of Deba Knife Sharpening
Generally, Carbon steel is used for common Deba knives that are easy to rust. This is because Carbon steel knives have outstanding sharpness, which is greatly important when cutting and slicing the fish.
But because of that, many run into the problem of how “Deba knives rust”, and have hard time maintaining the knife. So, we will explain in detail the proper way to maintain and care for your Deba knife from here. By learning these techniques, we hope that we can resolve your problems you may have about maintaining the Deba knife.
The Steel Materials used in Deba Knives
The steel material used for Deba knives includes steel like “Carbon steel” and “Alloy steel”, that has features like sharp cutting edges. The sharpness of the knife is directly connected to the ease of cooking and cutting the ingredients; these factors play an important role, especially for when cooking with delicate fishes. But the “Carbon steel” and the “Alloy steel” also have features that make it easy to rust. Therefore, it is important to immediately wash and clean the knife after use, dry it so no liquids are on it, and wipe it with oil before storing.
On the other hand, there are Deba knives made with rust resistant steel materials. For instance, we have Deba knives made with Ginsan (Silver 3) stainless steel material available at JIKKO CUTLERY. What is excellent about this steel, is that it’s not only rust resistant, but also has high hardness, and has features that maintain the sharpness. There is a general misunderstanding that stainless steel knives can’t cut well, but if you choose the right stainless steel, you can acquire a knife that has excellent sharpness.
特徴features 鋼材例material example 切れ味sharpness 錆びにくさrust resistance 研ぎやすさease of sharpening 持続性sharpness retention 食材の味(切った時の酸化具合)the taste of food (oxidation condition after cutting)
切れ味重視emphasis on sharpness 切れ味の持続性重視emphasis on edge retention 錆びにくさ重視emphasis on rust resistance 錆びにくくて切れ味も良いrust resistant and sharp
Know more about Carbon steel and Stainless Steel
The Usefulness of Stainless Steel Deba Knives
The advantage of stainless steel is that it is resistant to rust. Thanks to this advantage, you can shorten the maintenance time after use, and can worry less about the knife rusting.
Stainless steel knives are also favored more in certain situations since less effort is needed to keep it maintained; if you are on board a ship, or is in a situation that you can’t clean the knife immediately after use, you can avoid rusting the knife by choosing stainless steel.
Know more about Stainless Steel
H3: Maintenance Methods of Deba Knives
Three important factors you should think about maintaining Deba knife
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How to wipe off liquid after cleaning
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How to store the knife
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How to sharpen the knife
How to wipe off liquid after cleaning
After you wash and clean the knife, even if you cleanly wipe off the liquid with cloths, there are instances that the moisture remained inside the carbon steel, or simply wasn’t able to wipe off the liquid completely. So, after you wash and clean the knife, we suggest pouring hot water on the blade to evaporate the liquid first, so you can completely wipe off the liquid when using the cloth.
How to store the knife
When storing the knife, even if you were able to completely wipe off the liquid, rust can occur from outside forces like moisture in the air. To avoid rusting, we suggest you thinly wipe the blade with oil before storing it. Just have 2 or 3 drops of oil on paper towels or tissue papers, and gently but evenly coat the entire blade with the oil, to create an oil slick on the surface of the blade.
How to sharpen the knife
A Deba knife is a single-edged knife, so it is important to sharpen the cutting edge along the shinogi line. For the backside of the knife, you can just lightly sharpen it a few times, and will be enough.
When sharpening the knife, be sure to have your finger near the part of the blade where you want to sharpen, and slowly move it upward to sharpen to the tip of the knife. If you only sharpen certain parts of the knife and are not sharpening the whole blade, it can distort the shape of the knife, so be sure to sharpen the blade evenly.
For daily sharpening, use medium grid whetstones and fine finishing whetstones; if the blade is chopped, use rougher grid whetstones to fix it, then even it out with medium grid and fine grid whetstones afterwards.
Look Deba knife sharpening video
JIKKO’s Top Ranking Deba Knives and Recommendations
From here, we, JIKKO CUTLERY, have a history of over 120 years as the knife specialty shop from Sakai, Osaka, which is the famous production area of knives in Japan.
The Characteristics of our Popular Luxury Deba Knives
When speaking about Deba knives, most people think about the classic Japanese style Deba that many know, but JIKKO have provided Deba knives that are also committed to the design of the Deba knives.
銀座出刃切付 Ginza Deba Kiritsuke
The Ginza series has a smart looking black blade, and uses ebony wood, that is the luxury wood, as the handle. It has a uniformly black look that tightens up the atmosphere, and the Kiritsuke finish on the tip of the blade. By doing so, this series gives out a completely different atmosphere compared to the classic style Deba knife.
至光出刃切付Shiko Deba Kiritsuke
The Shiko Series takes its name from the Japanese words “至高 (Shiko)”, meaning “supreme,” and “光”, meaning “shine.” This name reflects the pursuit of supreme sharpness and brilliance — the essence of JIKKO’s craftsmanship.
Featuring a refined Kiritsuke-style tip and a handle made from deep black ebony accented with a silver ring and natural buffalo horn, this Deba knife exudes understated luxury. Many chefs also pair it with the Sashimi knife from the same series, admiring not only its functionality but also its elegant beauty.
祇園青鋼切付出刃包丁 Gion Blue carbon steel Deba Kiritsuke
The name “Gion” comes from Kyoto’s most famous entertainment district, known for its traditional teahouses, elegant maiko, and refined atmosphere of Japanese hospitality. Inspired by this graceful setting, the Gion Series embodies both sophistication and beauty.
This Deba knife features a pure white appearance that conveys a sense of gentle elegance. The handle is made from high-quality resin, making it resistant to stains and allowing it to retain its pristine whiteness over time. While most Deba knives tend to have a more robust and traditional look, this knife is designed with a dignified and modern aesthetic, reflecting the refined spirit of Kyoto’s Gion.
Cost-Efficient Deba knives for Home-use
At JIKKO, we also carry cost-efficient, and easy to use Deba knives for home use as well. The knives below are perfect for those that have just started cooking, and are having the first try of filleting the fish, and making fish cuisines.
白三出刃包丁 White Carbon #3 Deba
Nice feature that white carbon steel #3 knives has is that the steel material isn’t as hard, and is easy to sharpen. Therefore, for those of you who want to learn sharpening techniques, these knives are good starters to have, and are easier to handle. Typical households use Deba knives of around 150 to 180mm; of these sizes, the 150mm Deba knives can be purchased for less than 20,000 yen. For those of you that are buying their first professional or specialty knives, it’s something that you can buy more easily.
The Proper Way to Use the Deba Knife and the Differences from Other Knives
We sometimes have customers asking us “what is the difference between a Deba knife and a Japanese style knife?”, but the Deba knife is basically a type of Japanese style knife that has thick blades, and has more weight since it has a wider blade as well.
The shape of the blade is made in a way so it is sturdy enough to debone the fish properly. The Deba knives are quite convenient when processing fish head and larger sized fish as a whole.
The Proper Way to Use the Deba Knives
Unlike the double-edged knives, the Deba knives are not that suitable when cutting down ingredients straight down. Having a single-edged blade, it gets slanted to the left if you cut ingredients vertically. But when used sideways and moving the knife along the backbone of the fish when filleting, the knife won’t slip-away to the bones, and can clearly cut and fillet the fish.
Also, if you are cutting more solid ingredients or is deboning the fish, using the Deba knife with thicker blade is safer to use, compared to the regular Santoku knives. If Santoku knives were used as a similar situation, there are chances for the blade to chip, and could be dangerous. The Deba knives can help you cook safely since it can strongly cut off ingredients.
When to Use Deba Knife, and When to Use Sashimi Knife
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Deba Knife |
Knife that can cut something hard |
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Sashimi Knife |
Knife made to slice sashimi |
The Deba knives are mainly used when you clean the fish; you snap the head of the fish off using the chin of the knife, then take out internal organs, and fillet the fish to pieces using the Deba knife. After all the process is completed, the Sashimi knife takes over to do the rest. The Sashimi knife is made so that with the long blade it has, it can slice the fish meat in one stroke to make sashimi.
As a result, you can smoothly process the fish in a correct manner using both Deba and Sashimi knives at the right time. The hard and sturdy Deba knives are used with force to fillet the fish into pieces, and the Sahimi knife is used with refined techniques to slice the fish meat into a sashimi piece. By using both knives, you can quickly but accurately create beautiful and tasty fish cuisines.
What Makes Deba Knives Different from Other Knives
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Deba Knife |
Single-edged |
・It it shaped so that it can cut in one direction alongside the bone ・The blade is thick and sturdy |
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Gyuto/Santoku knives |
Double-edged |
・It is shaped so that it can cut straight down vertically with the cutting board ・The blade is thin, and can chip when cutting harder ingredients |
Some people fillet a fish using a Gyuto or a Santoku knife, but since the blade of the double-edged knives are much thinner, the blade can be chipped if it hits hard solid things like fish bones. Therefore, to be safe, we suggest using Deba knives in certain situations.
And since regular home-use knives have blades on both sides being ‘double-edged’, if you cut sideways along the fish bones when deboning, the blade may get caught by the bones. Meanwhile, if you use the single-edged Deba knives to cut along the bones, the blade is only on the one side, so you can smoothly move the knife without catching something.
Because of these reasons, it is much easier and safer to use a Deba knife rather than a double-edged home-use knife when filleting the fish.
Types of Deba Knives Depending on the Size and Usage
There actually are different types of Deba knives available. From here, we will explain about those different Deba knives that are used depending on the size of the fish, or its purposes. The usability and the size of each knife are quite different, so depending on the fish type or the process you’re doing, choose a Deba type that matches what you want to do.
身卸包丁Mioroshi Knife
A knife that is a hybrid of Deba and Sashimi knife. It is thinner than a Deba knife, and is slightly longer so it can slice like a Sashimi knife.
アジ切 Ajikiri
A knife that is used to fillet smaller fishes like horse mackerel. The blade is much thinner compared to the Deba knife in the same size.
貝裂 Kaisaki
A knife to fillet a fish that are even smaller than Aji (horse mackerel).
舟行 Funayuki
A knife that is a hybrid of Deba and Sashimi knife. It is said that fishermen use this knife abroad the boat. The shape is closer to the Deba knife, but is thinner compared to the Deba knife.
小出刃 Kodeba
Deba knives that are 105mm, 120mm, and 135mm are called “KO (small)Deba”. They are simply small Deba knives.
If you want to know more about how to choose a Deba knife, we have explained in depth about choosing a Deba knife; please take a look when you. Can.
More details about Choosing a Deba Knife
Frequently Asked Questions about Deba Knives
From here, we’ll answer some of the frequently asked questions about Deba Knives.
Question: When do you use a Deba knife?
Answer: Deba is a Japanese knife that is made for filleting a fish. Many in Japan use the Deba knife to separate the fish meat from the bones, and to do a “SANMAI-OROSHI”, which means “filleting a fish into 3 pieces”. The thickness and the hardness of the Deba knife is helpful when chopping off the head of the fish, and during the deboning process. This knife is especially useful when cooking Japanese cuisines, especially for those dishes that require precise filleting skills.
Question: What can you cut with a Deba knife?
Answer: Deba knives are suited for filleting processes like SANMAI-OROSHI, deboning, and chopping off the head of the fish. You can also use the Deba knife to remove the scales and internal organs of the fish as well; the thickness and the hardness of the Deba knife makes it safer to do these procedures. The Deba knife can also be used for cutting solid chunks of food, that’s not fish. For instance, when cutting hard vegetables like Kabocha (pumpkin), using the thick, single-edged Deba knife instead of the multi-purpose double-edged knives that you use for your regular cooking, is easier to do.
Question: What is the difference between Deba and Ko-Deba knives?
Answer: The main differences between KoDeba and Deba knives are the size, and the usage of each knife. Deba knives are generally bigger in size; they usually have blade sizes bigger than 150mm, and has features like thick and heavy blades. Because of this, the Deba knives are more suited to use when filleting and deboning fishes that are larger in size. On the other hand, the KoDeba knives are smaller in size, the blade length is shorter, around 100mm to 120mm, and is much lighter compared to the Deba knives.
Because of its size, the KoDeba is more useful when using it for more precise work and for smaller fishes. For example, it’s more convenient when using it for chopping off heads of smaller fishes, and removing smaller bones of the fish. And since the KoDeba is easier to use, it’s more suited to use when precise and accurate procedures are needed. While the Deba knife is suited for deboning and filleting larger fishes, KoDeba knife is suited more when using it for smaller fishes and precise processes. By using different knives depending on what you are cutting, you can cook efficiently even more.
Question: What is the difference between Deba and AiDeba Knife?
Answer: The main differences between Deba and AiDeba knives are the shape and the usage of each knife. Since Deba knives are thick and hard, they are made to fillet the fish. The weight and the thickness are perfect for cutting and deboning the fish, and you can use it at its full potential when chopping off the head of larger-sized fish, and during the deboning processes. Meanwhile, the AiDeba knives have thinner blades compared to the Deba knives, and are lighter in weight as well.
Due to these features of the AiDeba knives, you can do more precise processes when cutting the fish; the knife is also useful when chopping vegetables as well. The AiDeba knives have similar hardness that the Deba knives have, but are thinner and lighter, so can be used for more precise work compared to the Deba knives. For example, if you are filleting a smaller sized fish, or when you want to chop vegetables more, AiDeba knives are more useful to use. By knowing the differences of the knives, you can choose different knives depending on what you are cutting, and be able to process cooking procedures more efficiently.
Step in and Enjoy the World of Professional Cooking, with your Deba Knife
The quintessence of Japanese cuisine is to bring out the actual taste which the ingredients have to its full potential, and to enjoy the delicate taste. To do this, you must treat the ingredients’ fivers gently, and cut them apart as nicely and cleanly as you can.
The knife that plays an important factor to this process when filleting the fish, is the Deba knife that cuts well. To complete the dish beautifully, a knife that has a sharp cutting edge is essential to have.
That is why we suggest you get a Deba knife with excellent sharpness, so that you can expand your cooking world even more. Jump into this world with your food, and brighten up your cooking skills!
The knives that were introduced in the article
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Ginza Deba |
Shiko Deba |
Gion Deba |
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