Fascinating is how words bloom depending on their importance to a particular society. Just as Japanese contains an astonishing number of words for rice, English does for cows. Below is a list of Japanese words for “knife.” A general rule is that if it ends with “丁” (chō), it is for cooking, but if it ends in “刀” (katana, tō), it is not.
ナイフis the most general term, but often refers to a bladed object used as a weapon; it is often also referred to as 刃物 (hamono).
小刀 (kogatana) is a utility knife.
包丁 (hōchō) is a knife used for cooking.
鮪包丁(Maguro bōchō) - my favorite - these are very long knives to fillet tuna.
短刀 (tantō) were the short swords that samurai carried.
手術刀, also called メス, are scalpels used for surgery.
Numerous other terms exist in Japanese to define precise composition and purposes of knives. Wikipedia has a somewhat exhaustive list. - William
