How to Use a Bunka: A Technical Guide
Time to read 9 min
Learning how to use a Bunka knife will take your knife skills to a whole new level and expand your cutlery horizon. Once you begin exploring more specialty knives with various shapes and features, you'll quickly break into the world of collecting knives! Welcome! It's a fun hobby!
The Bunka is an eye-catching, versatile, and multi-purpose blade among Japanese knives. The bold design, sharp angles, and nimble feel can handle nearly every task in your kitchen. Though less commonly known than its counterparts like the Santoku and Gyuto, the Bunka knife is admired by cutlery enthusiasts for its unique design and exceptional functionality.
Throughout this article, we will outline the intricacies of the Bunka knife, explain its differences from other knives, and, most importantly, teach you how to use a Bunka knife.
Want to watch instead of read? Check out our video on how to use a Bunka Knife!
Table of Contents
The Bunka bōchō: A Brief Background
Determining the exact creation date of the Japanese Bunka knife is challenging due to varying historical accounts. However, it is generally believed that the Bunka bōchō, or “cultural kitchen knife,” emerged during Japan’s Meiji era (1868–1912). This period marked a significant cultural shift as Japan opened up to Western influences, leading to the development of versatile kitchen tools like the Bunka knife to accommodate new culinary practices, like the increased use of meat.
During this time and after WWII, the Bunka, Gyuto, and Santoku were also created, as different all-purpose knives were needed for preparing beef and other meats, along with fruits, vegetables, and seafood.
Our guess is the Bunka was most likely inspired by the Kiristuke Knife, originating before the Meiji Era, which traditionally had a single-bevel edge. It featured a very pointy, hard-angled, reverse tanto tip with a relatively straight edge and was excellent for precision slicing. Today, most Kiritsuke knives are double-bevel and are often called "K-Tip Gyutos." The water seems to get murky when distinguishing the two. However, most traditionally shaped Kiritsuke knives tend to have the same height in the blade until the tip angles down, whereas many K-tip Gyutos have a slope to the spine before the K-tip. Nonetheless, the Bunka shares the blade shape and iconic tip of the Kiritsuke.
Below are two examples of Kiritsuke knives that are as traditional as we could demonstrate, although they are double-bevel knives.
Key Features of a Bunka
It's important to understand the features of this awesome knife before learning how to use a Bunka. Like other Japanese knives, there are slight variations in the length and curvature of the blade, which significantly impact the type of cutting technique the blade is best for.
Below are the features of traditional and more modern hybrid Bunkas, along with tips to help you decide which Bunka is best for you.
Reverse Tanto Tip: A tanto tip is when a knife's edge is shorter than the spine. In the case of the Bunka, the edge is longer than the spine, giving it the "reverse" tanto description. The sharp, ~45-degree angled tip is ideal for detailed work, such as scoring, intricate slicing, and precision cuts. The paysanne pepper and tap-chopping razor-thin pieces of garlic are challenging tasks a Bunka can easily take on.
Blade Shape: The predominantly flat edge profile makes it perfect for tap and push chopping or slicing fruit, vegetables, and herbs, as well as slicing meat, poultry, and seafood.
The very tip of the edge can have a slight curve, but generally not curved enough to perform well with the European-style rock chop. If you prefer this cutting technique, you want to go for a longer Bunka with a larger curve at the tip. When trying to rock chop with a traditional Japanese Bunka, the tip of the knife will often dig into the cutting board, which isn't ideal!
The two knives below are examples of Bunkas with very different curvatures at the tip. The first (left) is best for push and tap chopping, while the second (right) would be excellent at tap, push, and rock chopping.
Double-Beveled Edge: Bunka knives have a double-beveled edge, meaning both sides of the blade are sharpened. This makes them suitable for left—and right-handed users. Like many Japanese knives, Bunka knives are sharpened to about 10 degrees, making them easily glide through anything.
Length: Bunka knives generally have a 6 to 7-inch blade, balancing maneuverability and cutting surface. However, some knives with the same blade shape can be found around 5 inches, called Ko-Bunkas, but are generally marketed as prep or utility knives.
The first two photos below are of a traditional 7" and a 5.7" Bunka and Ko-Bunka. The Last two photos are the Enso HD 7" Bunka and 5.5" Ko-Bunka and Enso SG2 5.5" Ko-Bunka, aka Prep Knives.
Handle: Like most Japanese knives, a traditional Bunka will have an octagonal wooden handle, sometimes accompanied by a ferrule. The balance will lean towards a blade-heavy feel but lightweight overall.
Today, hybridized Bunka knives are made with a stainless steel bolster, end cap, and various handle materials like micarta and pakkawood, providing a more evenly balanced feel and slightly heavier overall.
The knives below represent a traditional wooden octagonal handle without a bolster, a Western-German style wood handle with a bolster, and a hybrid pakkawood handle with a bolster.
How to Use a Bunka: Cutting Techniques
Getting comfortable with a Bunka involves understanding its strengths and how to leverage them for various cutting techniques. Here's a comprehensive guide on how to use a Bunka knife:
1. Grip
Something you'll notice with a Japanese knife like a Bunka is that the blade's geometry going down into the sharpened edge is very fine compared to other knife styles. Granted, this can vary from maker to maker, but overall, a properly made Bunka has excellent geometry. With this in mind, you'll find that you do not have to hold on tight or use much force when chopping or slicing with the knife. So, when you're learning how to use a bunka, keep a steady but light grip at the base of the blade or just above the bolster for hybrid Bunkas, and push or tap with just enough force - let the blade do the work, not power!
2. Tap & Push Chopping
Due to its relatively flat edge, the Bunka knife excels with an up-and-down chopping motion. Since all but (maybe) the very tip of the edge makes contact with the cutting board, tap and push chopping are the best ways to get the most out of the blade. Compared to longer chef's knives with a more pronounced edge, you can cut through ingredients better with a shorter bunka due to the surface area contact with the board.
Tap chopping consists of a repetitive straight up-and-down motion. The push chop involves pushing into the product at about a 45-degree angle, finishing with a slight push/slice forward along the cutting board, pulling back, and repeating.
3. Rock Chopping & Mincing
Most traditional Bunkas will not perform well with the rock chop or when mincing since their straight edge doesn't provide the curve needed for these cuts. However, as previously mentioned, longer Bunkas, with a more pronounced curve will rock and mince just fine. But there is a caveat: the hardness of the steel.
Most Bunkas will have a 60-66 Rockwell Hardness. In fact, there may not be any Bunkas in our 2,500+ knives sitewide that have a lower Rockwell than 60. Suppose your primary cutting technique is the rock chop, and you like mincing fresh herbs by pivoting the blade on various cutting board surfaces. In that case, we recommend getting a Bunka with a 60-61 Rockwell, so you won't have to worry about chipping or fracturing your blade, as you would with harder Japanese steel. Twisting, torquing, and scraping are not kind to Japanese knives approaching 62-63 Rockwell and above.
4. Slicing
You can slice with a Bunka knife in two ways. The first is to use the entire blade, and the second is to use only the tip with the handle angled upwards.
If you're slicing pork medallions or chicken breast, you'll slice as you would with any other knife; a simple push or pull, or for larger proteins like a whole pork loin, a push and pull combo.
However, for slicing tomatoes, apples, cucumbers, lemons, and other small to medium-sized ingredients, you want to take advantage of the tip of the Bunka by reducing drag and minimizing slices from sticking to the side of the blade, regardless of the type of finish (hollows, tsuchime).
Angle the knife upwards to about a 45-degree angle, so only the tip of the edge is on the cutting board, in front of the ingredient, and then pull towards your body. Since the tip of the knife will make a V-shape on the board, there is less surface area of the knife going through the ingredients, reducing drag and allowing the tomato or cucumber slice to fall instead of sticking to the blade.
5. Detailed Work
The reverse tanto tip of the Bunka is perfect for intricate tip work, like when finely tap chopping razor-thin pieces of garlic, deboning and trimming chicken thighs, cutting a brunoise, scoring duck fat and mushroom caps, or getting fancy with a paysanne pepper cut into triangles!
As you learn how to use a bunka, you'll see that this knife excels at being used on an angle and off the cutting board, like when trimming meat or filleting fish. Just remember, let the sharp, angled blade work for you!
Is the Bunka for you?
The Bunka is a versatile, efficient, and sexy (yeah, we said it) knife that can transform your prepping experience, especially for detailed and intricate tasks. Understanding the differences between a Bunka and other Japanese knives, recognizing its key features, and grasping the proper techniques can significantly enhance your kitchen workflow.
When deciding which Bunka is best for your individual cutting style, consider these three things:
1. What cutting techniques are you most comfortable with? If you excel at tap and push chopping, then any Bunka will do. However, if you prefer the rock chop and mincing, we recommend a Bunka with a more pronounced curve at the tip and softer Japanese steel that does not exceed 60-61.
2. Do you want a knife that's super forgiving when it comes to maintenance, or do you mind giving your blade a little extra TLC? If you want a Bunka that's really easy to take care of, go with one made of stainless steel. If you want to dabble in the world of carbon steel blades, you may want to start with a Bunka with a carbon steel core and stainless steel cladding since you'll only have to worry about the edge having the potential to rust.
If you're ready to go full-maintenance mode, a 100% carbon steel blade may require more care, but it's fantastic to see how the blade evolves in look and personality over the years—just keep it dry, even during prep sessions!
3. Are you comfortable sharpening your own knife with a Whetstone? Considering the geometry and fine edge of a Bunka, they require regular honing with a strop or ceramic honing rod and should only be sharpened with a Whetstone.
If you're comfortable sharpening knives with a high Rockwell, then any Bunka on our site will suit you just fine. However, if you're not versed in knife sharpening, we recommend sticking to a 60-61 Rockwell Bunka, as they will be much more approachable when learning how to use a bunka and sharpen one. Suppose you find a blade with a higher Rockwell that you must add to your collection, but you don't want to sharpen it; no worries! Just hone the knife regularly and have a professional sharpener bring it back to life when needed. The good thing about hard Japanese steel knives is that they hold an edge for a long time. So long as a bunka is used properly and honed between uses, you should only have to sharpen it every 6-12 months.
Now that you know everything there is to know about how to use a Bunka and what features will best suit your style, you're ready to get chopping. Whether you're slicing vegetables, dicing fruits, or getting fancy with some tipwork, you'll love the look and feel of your new Bunka!