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The Nakiri is a vegetable specialist built for vertical cuts.
The Santoku is an all-purpose knife for meat, fish and vegetables.
Mixed cooking: start with the Santoku, add the Nakiri later.
Both knives are kept sharp on a water stone.
The Nakiri knife raises a question every Japanese knife enthusiast eventually asks: is a vegetable specialist worth it, or does a Santoku cover everything? These two blades suit different motions, kitchen habits and steels. This guide gives a clear verdict, based on your cooking profile.
The Nakiri is a Japanese knife designed for one motion: the vertical push cut. Its tall, rectangular blade has a straight edge, so the full length meets the board at once, which removes the accordion effect on fibrous or dense vegetables. Its double bevel suits both right and left-handed cooks. It is not meant for meat, fish or bread.
The name Santoku comes from the Japanese 三徳, “three virtues”: meat, fish and vegetables. Its slightly curved blade and low tip allow a partial rocking motion on top of vertical cuts. A standard length of 165 to 180 mm keeps it nimble, and the blade is thinner than many Western knives. It is the all-purpose knife of the Japanese home kitchen.
Nakiri: no tip, square heel, tall blade that keeps knuckles off the board.
Santoku: low tip, slightly rounded belly, pronounced spine.
Nakiri: pure vertical cutting. Santoku: mixed cutting, vertical and rocking.
Some Santoku have hollow-ground dimples (granton) that help food release from the blade.
With a Nakiri, the motion is a clean vertical push: the whole blade meets the board in one stroke, giving even slices without crushing fibres. On squash, beets, potatoes or carrots, it excels. The Santoku, thanks to its curved belly, allows a partial rock better suited to proteins and foods of varying texture. Bulky vegetables: Nakiri. Mixed tasks: Santoku.
Nakiri are often forged in carbon steels such as Aogami or Shirogami: a very fine edge, prized for delicate vegetable work, but more prone to oxidation. Santoku are often found in VG-10 or SG2, stainless steels more tolerant of the acidity of meat and fish. A Damascus pattern describes a surface finish, not a steel: what matters is the core steel.
The Nakiri suits cooks whose diet is mostly plant-based or vegetarian, those who often make julienne, brunoise or chiffonade, and Japanese, Asian or wok-style kitchens with large vegetable volumes. Its wide blade also works as a scoop to move cut food along the board. Its limits: it is unsuited to meat, fish and bread.
The Santoku suits cooks who handle meat, fish and vegetables with a single knife. It is a natural first Japanese knife for anyone coming from a Western blade, since size and grip are similar. It also suits varied cooking without an exclusively plant-based diet. Its tip allows fine incisions, for herbs or light boning. A true all-purpose knife.
Olivier Caza-Berthelet, founder of Stay Sharp, has cooked with both formats for years. His advice: for plant-based or wok cooking, explore the Nakiri knife collection, which offers several steels and finishes. For an all-purpose knife, start with the Santoku knife collection. The in-store sharpening service maintains both formats.
No: the Nakiri is designed exclusively for vegetables and herbs. With no tip, it cannot make fine incisions, bone out or trim proteins, and its tall blade is poorly suited to slicing fish fillets or thin cuts of meat. For mixed cooking, the Santoku remains essential. The Nakiri can still sit alongside it as a specialized secondary knife, without being redundant.
The Usuba is a single-bevel vegetable knife, sharpened on one side only: it demands precise technique to avoid blade drift and suits very experienced cooks, often in kaiseki cooking. The Nakiri is double-bevel, ambidextrous and more accessible. Both have a rectangular blade, but for everyday use the Nakiri is the recommended version.
A Nakiri in Aogami or Shirogami is more sensitive to moisture: dry it right after use and sharpen it regularly on a 1,000 grit stone. A Santoku in VG-10 tolerates moisture better and needs less frequent sharpening, with a 1,000 to 2,000 grit. Keep an angle of about 15° for both. Stay Sharp's sharpening service handles both formats, in store or by mail.
The Nakiri knife is the vegetable specialist, and the Santoku knife is the all-purpose choice for mixed cooking. Both can sit side by side in a well-equipped kitchen. Our advice: start with the Santoku if your cooking is varied, then add the Nakiri if your vegetable volume justifies it. Explore Stay Sharp's Japanese knives to find the blade that suits your motions.
