Yanagi ba (left) and Tako hiki (right)

Tako hiki (タコ引, literally, octopus-pull), yanagi ba (柳刃, literally, willow blade), and fugu hiki (ふぐ引き, literally, pufferfish-puller) are long thin knives used in the Japanese kitchen, belonging to the group of Sashimi hōchō (Japanese: 刺身包丁Sashimi [raw fish] hōchō [knife]) to prepare sashimi, sliced raw fish and seafood. This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free content hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. ... This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free content hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. ... For other uses, see Octopus (disambiguation). ... Genera Amblyrhynchotes Arothron Auriglobus Canthigaster Carinotetraodon Chelonodon Colomesus Contusus Ephippion Feroxodon Fugu Gastrophysus Javichthys Lagocephalus Liosaccus Marilyna Monotretus Omegaphora Pelagocephalus Polyspina Reicheltia Sphoeroides Takifugu Tetractenos Tetraodon Torquigener Tylerius Xenopterus For species see Genera articles. ... traditional Norse knife A knife is a sharp-edged hand tool used for cutting. ... There are many views of what is fundamental to Japanese cuisine. ... Assorted sashimi Sashimi (Japanese: ) is a Japanese delicacy primarily consisting of very fresh raw seafoods, thinly sliced into pieces about 2. ... For other uses, see Fish (disambiguation). ... Spaghetti with seafood (Spaghetti allo scoglio). ...

Similar to the nakiri bocho, the style differs slightly between Tokyo and Osaka. In Osaka, the yanagi ba has a pointed end, whereas in Tokyo the tako hiki has a rectangular end. The tako hiki is usually used to prepare octopus. A fugu hiki is similar to the yanagi ba, except that the blade is thinner and more flexible. As the name indicates, the fugu hiki is traditionally used to slice very thin fugu sashimi. Nakiri bocho, Osaka style on the left and Tokyo style on the right (1) Ryoba edge (2) Kataba edge for right hand use (3) Kataba edge for left hand use. ... For other uses, see Tokyo (disambiguation). ... Osaka )   is a city in Japan, located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of the main island of HonshÅ«. The city is the capital of Osaka Prefecture. ... For other uses, see Octopus (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Fugu (disambiguation). ...

The length of the knife is suitable to fillet medium sized fish. For very large fish such as tuna longer specialized knives exist, for example the almost two-meter long oroshi hocho, or the slightly shorter hancho hocho. For other uses, see Tuna (disambiguation). ... Using a Oroshi hocho knife to filet tuna at the Tsukiji fish market. ...

See also

• Japanese kitchen knives
• List of Japanese cooking utensils