I have seen several different designs of this chopping knife? What does it me when the tip of the knife is rounded or squared or angled? Is it just the knife makers styling or is there a deeper meaning?
Kansai knifemakers typically create usubas with the rounded edge that you have seen. It can be used for decorating food (mukimono - e.g. carving foods to make them look prettier). This can't really be done with the Kanto area's usubas that have the square tip. Chefs in the Kansai region used to practice mukimono far more than chefs in the Kanto region. I've also read that chefs in the Kanto region often sat while cutting, which raised the cutting board's level higher in comparison to their body - the rounded tip of the Kansai version was considered problematic in this case. The Kanto (squared) usuba has a stronger tip due to its shape, but can't be used for mukimono. I hope this helps! :)
