Nakiri bōchō

They differ from the deba bōchō in their shape, as they have a straight blade edge, with no or virtually no curve, suitable for cutting all the way to the cutting board without the need for a horizontal pull or push.

Nakiri bōchō are knives for home use, and sometimes have a Kurouchi black-finished blade.

The cutting edge is sharpened with a double bevelled, (from both sides), called ryōba in Japanese.

A nakiri blade is generally between 15 and 20 centimetres (6 and 8 inches) long.

The highest quality kataba blades have a slight depression — urasuki — on the flat side, which gives better cuts and allows for the cutting of thinner slices than the ryōba used for nakiri, but requires more skill to use.

A nakiri with a blade of 165 millimetres (6 inches) made from hammered Damascus steel, with a wa-shiki (Japanese-style) handle
Nakiri bōchō with an Osaka-style blade (L) and Tokyo-style blade (R)
(a) Kataba edge for right-hand use — (b) Ryōba double bevel edge — (c) Kataba edge for left-hand use. (The sample knife is a deba bōchō )