A , also known as a is an extremely long, highly specialized Japanese

knife A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidence ...

that is commonly used to

fillet Fillet may refer to: *Annulet (architecture), part of a column capital, also called a fillet *Fillet (aircraft), a fairing smoothing the airflow at a joint between two components *Fillet (clothing), a headband *Fillet (cut), a piece of meat *Fille ...

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max len ...

, as well as many other types of large ocean fish. The ''maguro bōchō'' is a long knife with a blade length of 30 cm (12 inches) to 150 cm (60 inches) in addition to a long handle. It can fillet a tuna in a single cut, although usually two people are needed to handle the knife and the tuna. The flexible blade can be curved to match the shape of the spine to minimize the amount of meat remaining on the tuna carcass. They are commonly found at

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

fish markets in Japan, the largest of which is the

Tsukiji fish market is a major tourist attraction for both domestic and overseas visitors in Tokyo. The area contains retail markets, restaurants, and associated restaurant supply stores. Before 2018, it was the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the wor ...

in Tokyo, for which they are often called , as there is little need for them elsewhere. They may be found at very large restaurants, but they are not used in a regular

Japanese kitchen The Japanese kitchen ( ja, , translit=Daidokoro, lit=kitchen) is the place where food is prepared in a Japanese house. Until the Meiji era, a kitchen was also called ''kamado'' (; lit. stove) and there are many sayings in the Japanese language t ...

, unless there is a frequent need to fillet tuna with a weight of 200 kg (440 pounds) or more. They are not designed for use as weapons, but as tools, although they have been used as weapons by

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...

.
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limited access Often they are used by two people simultaneously, where the second person handles the other end, using a towel wrapped around the blade for protection.Slicing open a giant tuna at the Tsukiji Fish Market
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maguro bocho Japanese kitchen knives Fish processing

See also

References