Hokiyama Shobu-Yanagiba 240mm (9.5")

Yanagiba knives are designed to cut thin slices of raw fish (ideal for sushi lovers), and also for cutting large pieces of meat (eg steaks). It's a single bevel knife, which means 🚨 only right-handed users can wield it. While we usually find Yanagibas in sushi and Japanese restaurants, but there is a growing trend of home cooks owning these beauties for the weekend sushi or BBQ parties.

Yanagiba roughly translates to English as a “willow-leaf blade” which perfectly describes the long and slender leaf-shaped blade of the knife that is primarily used to fillet fish. Its fine sharpness ensures very little cellular damage in the cut surface, which is particularly important for dishes where the fish is eaten raw, because it helps to preserve the original flavor and texture of the fish.

The blade features a delicate high polish and a hand-engraved kanji signature. 

The handle is made of the most commonly used handle wood in Japanese knives - magnolia wood. It is preferred wood of Japanese sushi chefs due to its antiseptic properties and it is easy and inexpensive to rehandle as there is an abundance of magnolia handles on the market. Magnolia wood is a soft, light-colored wood that needs some extra maintenance as it can stain easily, so we recommend having clean hands before using the knife.

Where the blade meets the handle, you may notice a special feature called Machi spacing. This is a small gap between the lower part of the blade and the handle, which can be seen mostly in Yanagiba knives. It is a feature that pays tribute to Japanese swords and is typical mostly in the work of blacksmiths located in and around the Tokyo area. So don't worry, it is not a flaw in assembly of the blade and the handle, but rather a homage to Japanese forging tradition that could be displayed on a magnet right there on your kitchen wall.

The heart of the knife is made of AUS-8 steel, a popular Japanese steel from the Aichi steelworks that is incredibly resistant to rust, yet simple to sharpen. 

AUS-8 steel contains high amounts of carbon (0.7-0.75%) and is also high in vanadium (0.10-0.26%) and molybdenum (0.10-0.30%). It also has a high percentage of chromium (14.5%), making the blade corrosion-resistant and increasing the hardness, durability and the tensile strength of steel mix. This carefully balanced composition does not only endow the blade with exceptional hardness (60 HRC) but also good wear and tear and rust-resistance properties. 

Due to the choice of materials and precise final treatment of the blade by hand, the blade is simple to maintain, retains its edge for a very long time and is perfect for sharpening on water stones. These are essential characteristics of a traditional Japanese single bevel knife, such as Yanagiba. 

Suitable for first-time buyers of a Japanese kitchen knife. It can also serve as a wonderful gift!

About Hokiyama:
Hokiyama Hamono is a leading smithy in Kochi Prefecture in Japan. They have recently celebrated their 100-year anniversary, founded in 1919. Hokiyama Hamono is known for their quality as they follow the tradition of hand-made blades that has been around for over 800 years. They retain the handiwork and traditional craftsmanship that is passed down from generation to generation while striving for the ever-new knowledge and innovation. Despite the fact that they make knives according to the traditional methods, they follow the modern technological guidelines in the field of metallurgy, material processing and innovations in production processes. Hokiyama, in their own words, is a fusion of tradition (土佐 一), innovation (無限) and practicality (左近).