Ko-bocho means little knife, and Okeya specializes in making these small cutting tools for customers in Japan and now in the U.S. as well. They are single bevel knives built from good quality White #2 carbon steel under a decorative cladding, and plenty of our customers pick one up specifically to practice single bevel sharpening. The primary jobs are small boning work, vegetable slicing, and paring.
The handle is a basic D shaped ho wood with a black plastic ferrule, simple and functional rather than fancy, which keeps the price down on a knife that is meant to be used and sharpened often.
What Customers Are Saying: The factory handle and ferrule draw consistent, fair criticism. More than one owner has rounded the edges, oiled the wood, or peeled off the factory stickers to make it more comfortable in hand, and a couple note it does not take oil quite as well as their other knives. The steel itself earns better marks: it is genuinely sharp out of the box, sharpens up further without much trouble, and rewards anyone willing to learn single bevel technique. One reviewer found it disappointing for dicing potatoes and onions but excellent for thin slicing work, which lines up with what this shape is built for. Overall, owners describe it as a fun, capable small knife once you accept what it is.
Care Instructions: White #2 is a reactive carbon steel, so wipe and dry the blade immediately after use rather than letting it sit. Avoid leaving acidic foods against the blade for any length of time, and apply a light coat of camellia oil for longer term storage. Hand wash only.
The handle is a basic D shaped ho wood with a black plastic ferrule, simple and functional rather than fancy, which keeps the price down on a knife that is meant to be used and sharpened often.
What Customers Are Saying: The factory handle and ferrule draw consistent, fair criticism. More than one owner has rounded the edges, oiled the wood, or peeled off the factory stickers to make it more comfortable in hand, and a couple note it does not take oil quite as well as their other knives. The steel itself earns better marks: it is genuinely sharp out of the box, sharpens up further without much trouble, and rewards anyone willing to learn single bevel technique. One reviewer found it disappointing for dicing potatoes and onions but excellent for thin slicing work, which lines up with what this shape is built for. Overall, owners describe it as a fun, capable small knife once you accept what it is.
Care Instructions: White #2 is a reactive carbon steel, so wipe and dry the blade immediately after use rather than letting it sit. Avoid leaving acidic foods against the blade for any length of time, and apply a light coat of camellia oil for longer term storage. Hand wash only.
- Brand: Okeya
- Blacksmith: Fujiwara-san
- Location: Miki City, Japan
- Construction: Hammer Forged, San Mai
- Edge Steel: Shirogami #2 (White Paper Steel)
- Cladding: Stainless
- Finish: Hairline / Sand Blast
- Edge Grind: Single Bevel
- Handle: D-Shaped Ho Wood
- Ferrule: Black Plastic
- Weight: 2.6 oz (74 g)
- Blade Length: 120 mm
- Total Length: 252 mm
- Spine Thickness at Base: 3 mm
- Blade Height: 30 mm
Reviews
5 review(s) WRITE A REVIEW (Reviews are subject to approval)
Interesting knife Posted By: Richard Malone - verified customer
34 people found this review helpful
Well I bought this knife primarily to sharpen a single bevel. As previously mentioned the handle leaves much to be desired. I expected that it would be and at this price point it's acceptable. I rounded off the front and back of the wood and oiled it, definitely made it more comfortable.. Mine was not very sharp out of the box. But between articles and a couple videos I manged to make it very sharp. At first I was disappointed because no matter how sharp it is it simply sucks for any kind of dicing (potatoes and onions). I have a Tojiro dp petty and while not efficient it will absolutely handle that job. BUT, it's amazing how thin this little knife will slice if you do your part. Overall it's not really a petty in my book. But it's a neat little boning knife that will let you play with single edge sharpening and slicing. Give it a shot, sharpening a single bevel isn't anywhere near as difficult as some make it out to be.
34 people found this review helpful
Well I bought this knife primarily to sharpen a single bevel. As previously mentioned the handle leaves much to be desired. I expected that it would be and at this price point it's acceptable. I rounded off the front and back of the wood and oiled it, definitely made it more comfortable.. Mine was not very sharp out of the box. But between articles and a couple videos I manged to make it very sharp. At first I was disappointed because no matter how sharp it is it simply sucks for any kind of dicing (potatoes and onions). I have a Tojiro dp petty and while not efficient it will absolutely handle that job. BUT, it's amazing how thin this little knife will slice if you do your part. Overall it's not really a petty in my book. But it's a neat little boning knife that will let you play with single edge sharpening and slicing. Give it a shot, sharpening a single bevel isn't anywhere near as difficult as some make it out to be.
Great knives get used to single bevelPosted By: Ryan Barneski - verified customer
29 people found this review helpful
This knife is very sharp OOTB (IMO), and requires some getting used to a single bevel, but after that, it's quite nice. the abundance of stickers on the handle cheapen it slightly (I might take them off at some point), and it doesn't seem to take oil as well as my other knives. But other than that, it's a great multi-purpose, small-job, good looking knife for a decent price.
29 people found this review helpful
This knife is very sharp OOTB (IMO), and requires some getting used to a single bevel, but after that, it's quite nice. the abundance of stickers on the handle cheapen it slightly (I might take them off at some point), and it doesn't seem to take oil as well as my other knives. But other than that, it's a great multi-purpose, small-job, good looking knife for a decent price.
Well, it's intrestingPosted By: Frank K - verified customer
33 people found this review helpful
Mainly bought to see if I could sharpen a single bevel knife. Was not overly excited with the handle/ ferrule fit, but for the price, it's OK. The edge was was not screaming sharp OOTB and still isn't.Plenty sharp to bone out a chicken, however, I did not do a great job on the stones. More to sharpening a single bevel than I thought. Gonna have to work on that a little, but that's not the knife's fault. The steel feels like it wants to take an edge.All in all, it's a pretty like thing. I believe we are going to get along just fine. For the price, it will be hard to beat for a small boning knife.Frank K
33 people found this review helpful
Mainly bought to see if I could sharpen a single bevel knife. Was not overly excited with the handle/ ferrule fit, but for the price, it's OK. The edge was was not screaming sharp OOTB and still isn't.Plenty sharp to bone out a chicken, however, I did not do a great job on the stones. More to sharpening a single bevel than I thought. Gonna have to work on that a little, but that's not the knife's fault. The steel feels like it wants to take an edge.All in all, it's a pretty like thing. I believe we are going to get along just fine. For the price, it will be hard to beat for a small boning knife.Frank K
An adorable boning machinePosted By: Richard D - verified customer
37 people found this review helpful
I just received this knife today and it's already a favorite. Without giving the edge any attention on my stones, I used it to bone a chicken and it performed beautifully. It will probably continue to fill in as a mock-honesuki, but will also become my go to general purpose kitchen knife.
37 people found this review helpful
I just received this knife today and it's already a favorite. Without giving the edge any attention on my stones, I used it to bone a chicken and it performed beautifully. It will probably continue to fill in as a mock-honesuki, but will also become my go to general purpose kitchen knife.
