Tako hiki
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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.
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.
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.
See also Japanese kitchen knives and the list of Japanese cooking utensils.
