Higonokami SK Steel Folding Knife - Large

A petty is a small utility knife, from the French petit. It is commonly shaped like a small gyuto and runs from 120 to 150 mm, up to 180 mm. Its clearest role is detailed work where a larger knife feels cumbersome: fruit peeling, garnish work, condiments, and small board work beside a gyuto or santoku.

A knife maker, Tojiro, frames the petty as a useful second knife, not an automatic necessity, and recommends santoku plus petty or gyuto plus petty combinations. It is not a replacement for a full size chef's knife; it lacks the blade length and belly for efficient chopping, rocking, or breaking down larger proteins. Treat it as a precision tool, not an all-rounder.

Petty knife lengths vary by maker: KAI's guide defines a petty (ペティナイフ) as a small knife with a narrow blade measuring 150 mm or under. Its table gives 90 to 150 mm, and it describes the shape as a smaller gyuto with a pointed tip.

We list petty knives from 70 mm to 165 mm, including lengths above the limit used in KAI's guide.

For most cooks the second knife after a gyuto is a small utility knife (petty) of about 150mm. If most of your cooking is vegetables, make it a vegetable knife (nakiri) instead; if you carve or slice a lot of meat or fish, a slicing knife (sujihiki).

A gyuto covers the main board work, so the gap it leaves is small work. A petty does the jobs where a full-size blade is clumsy: peeling, trimming and coring in the hand, and small board jobs such as shallots, fruit and herbs. Our petty knife FAQ covers the shape in detail.

A nakiri earns the second slot if you prep vegetables every day. Its flat edge meets the board along its whole length, so slices separate cleanly. It has no pointed tip, so the gyuto still does the tip work.

A sujihiki is the choice for carving roasts and portioning large pieces of meat or fish. The long, narrow blade has less surface touching the food than a gyuto, so slices come away cleaner. 240mm and 270mm are the popular lengths.

A santoku or a bunka is a weak second knife: both are all-purpose shapes that repeat what the gyuto does. If your gyuto already handles the small jobs comfortably, the second knife can wait, and a whetstone to keep the first one sharp is the better spend.

No. SK is the symbol for the carbon tool steels in JIS G 4401, and in the table Kobe Steel publishes, chromium may not exceed 0.30% in any SK grade.

The Japan Stainless Steel Association defines stainless steel as an alloy with at least 10.5% chromium, so SK steel is not stainless. We suggest washing and drying the knife after use.

Yes. The Higonokami (肥後守), a folding pocket knife, is made by Nagao Kanekoma in Miki City, Hyogo.

The company's own site dates its start to 1894 and counts five generations of makers down to Mitsuo Nagao, saying its line is the only one passed down among Higonokami makers.

A higonokami is a traditional Japanese folding pocket knife: a small laminated blade that pivots on a single rivet inside a metal handle, with no lock and no spring, opened by pushing a small lever on the blade with your thumb. It is a utility knife for small jobs rather than a kitchen knife.

One rivet pins the blade to the handle, and friction at that rivet is all that holds the blade in place, which is why the type is called a friction folder. The lever, called the chikiri, folds flat against the handle when the knife is closed. The blade is soft iron forge-welded around a hard steel core, which holds an edge well and is easy to sharpen on a stone.

Only one workshop can still use the Higonokami name: Nagao Kanekoma Factory in Miki, Hyogo, now in its fifth generation. The higonokami we list come in SK carbon steel, Aogami (Blue) carbon steel and VG10 stainless.

It suits light, careful cutting, such as sharpening a pencil or trimming twine. With no lock, it is the wrong knife for hard or forceful work. The carbon steel versions rust if they are put away wet; the VG10 version is stainless. Our Nagao Kanekoma page has the maker's story, and the SK steel and VG10 line pages cover each version.