Yoshihiro Yanagiba

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

taketori

New Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2011
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
So I'm expecting to be starting work in a sushi restaurant fairly soon and I'd like to get some opinions on an entry yanagiba I've been considering.

Among the more well-known brands, the Masamoto 300 KS ($360) and the Suisin Shironiko ($290) are at the top of my list, but in terms of aesthetics, this knife from Yoshihiro ($200) wins by a landslide.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006OQUA0O/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Although I prefer the looks of the Yoshihiro knife, I am rather uncertain about its quality; is it on the same level as the other two brands at the given price point?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
As a home cook, I don't have the experience that many of the folks here have, so, from the what it's worth department: I have been using the Masamoto you are considering for a couple of years and think it is great. It gets really sharp, and, in my use, stays that way quite well. It handles comfortably -- feels like an extension of my arm, and is a pleasure to use. My local sushi chef used it a bit and was most impressed with it.
 
I purchased a Yoshihiro yanagiba from Jon at JKI and I am very happy with it. Incredibly reasonable in price, it's straight and cuts like the dickens. Not to mention Jon's service is the best I have seen yet from anyone selling knives. He literally spent a little over an hour via Skype to make sure I knew how to sharpen it correctly.
 
There is more sources of yoshihiro on the net, nicer handles and so on, as well as you could buy from JKI.

I have a deba from Jon and it is very good knife.

If I would be on a budget or trying to get entry level nice blade, for 235 bucks you cannot get that good anywhere else imho. Even those honkasumi from bluewayjapan on ebay are not.

Its said its entry level knife, that does not mean it cuts worse or the sharpness isnt as good as on some other [more pricey] knives.

PS congrats on the job
 
I purchased a Yoshihiro yanagiba from Jon at JKI and I am very happy with it. Incredibly reasonable in price, it's straight and cuts like the dickens. Not to mention Jon's service is the best I have seen yet from anyone selling knives. He literally spent a little over an hour via Skype to make sure I knew how to sharpen it correctly.
Wow. Very, very impressed with JKI's service. I know who I'm turning to when I'm ready for a yanagiba.
 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007O1JV6W/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Sorry about the mistaken link; this was the one I was actually referring to. Are the Amazon knives as good as the ones Jon sells?

And thanks for the comments. My thinking is mostly that although $0 is pretty far from $200, the jump from $200 to $300 isn't as big of a deal so I wouldn't be too put out about spending more for a noticeably better blade. But I do think I'll probably end up with a Yoshihiro now.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
What you get from buying from Jon is peace of mind. With kasumi knives (referring here to the finish grade, not the knifemaking process), uneven blade roads are pretty common. Jon knows as much about Japanese blades as anyone and will make sure you get a usable knife.

I'm certainly not qualified to fix a blade road. If you are, ebay's not a bad way to go; if not, I would contact Jon.
 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007O1JV6W/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Sorry about the mistaken link; this was the one I was actually referring to. Are the Amazon knives as good as the ones Jon sells?

And thanks for the comments. My thinking is mostly that although $0 is pretty far from $200, the jump from $200 to $300 isn't as big of a deal so I wouldn't be too put out about spending more for a noticeably better blade. But I do think I'll probably end up with a Yoshihiro now.

I found the post where Jon talked about this: "We are currently in the process of transitioning our Yoshihiro knives to Gesshin Uraku. This is being done for a number of reasons. First and foremost is to stop the confusion with regard to the lines we were selling and the lines other companies were selling. We got a lot of questions about our white #2 single bevel knives from them and how they were different from the Yoshihiro Kasumi line being sold elsewhere. The line we carry (now Gesshin Uraku) had better fit and finish, better consistency of grind, less issues with warping, less high and low spots, and in my experience a better heat treatment... Kind of like the difference between kasumi and hon-kasumi.

In addition, this change is an opportunity for us to improve quality control and maintain a line with the quality of knives we feel comfortable with."
http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/6930-Yoshihiro-becoming-Gesshin-Uraku
 
Last edited by a moderator:
i bought a Yoshihiro yanagi from a source on eBay a couple years ago, and while it has ended up being a perfectly fine knife, it took a lot of work to get it there, because it was ground very inconsistently. i would buy from Jon, because you can be sure to get a nice knife from him.
 
I second JKI! Jon took a good amount of time to talk me through the various "brands", steels, etc when I was looking for a Suji. Jon knows what to look for in the knives, so it would be a no brainer to go thru Jon at JKI than roll the dice on the Ebay knife, especially if it's your first and you don't know how to fix the high/low spots and stuff.
 
Pay a bit more and get Gesshin Uraku by Yoshihiro from Jon, if you want a white #2 Yoshihiro yanagiba.

I've had one white #2 direct from ebay, and it came with a bad bevel grind towards the tip i.e. shinogi line
starts to bend back downward.
 
Back
Top