Recommendations for a Yanagiba under $500 and Gyuto under $400

Hello I was hoping to get some help selecting a 300mm yanagiba. Trying to spend under $500. I am open to recommendations not on my list as well. Price is a factor.

I am considering the following mostly as well as others:

Masamoto 300mm ks/kk ($300 - $360)
Watanabe 300mm white/blue steel ($415-$500)
Kejiro Doi 300mm white/blue steel ($430)

I am also looking for a Gyuto 210-240mm. It will be my main workhorse knife. Price under $400. Open to suggestions not on my list.

Watanabe blue steel 210/240mm ($320-$390)
Masamoto ks 240mm ($325)
Moritaka Damascus Gyuto 240mm ($360)

If you can provide me with some guidance I will greatly appreciate it, Thank you.

The KS gyuto is a true performer however edge retention isnt great so keep that in mind. Also the gengetsu is pretty decent for a work horse. As far as yangi i cant recommend any.

I would call Jon at jki. Geshin Hide makes an awesone yanagiba. I would also consider mizuno terangi(sp?) white from Koki at JCK. Jon also had a kochi yanagiba w koruchi finish out of v2 that looked amazing. Of course shigefusa makes a great yanagiba.

If you can stand the wait its hard to be shigefusa for a yanagiba.

The hekler said:

If you can stand the wait its hard to be shigefusa for a yanagiba.

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Maxim has one in stock at the moment, a bit over $500 though

Haven't used one, but the Gesshin Hide's look absolutely spectacular--good steel, excellent grinds, good fit & finish. On the other hand, you could try the "make your own" approach out and let us know how it goes: http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/FurinkazanYanagibaSeries.html#FuRinKaZanYanagibaSeries.

Let us know what you get!

Cant comment of the yanagiba, but I just got the masamoto ks after three years of "thinking" about it and I am truly impressed. I would easily take it over the Moritaka any day of the week.

kalaeb said:

Cant comment of the yanagiba, but I just got the masamoto ks after three years of "thinking" about it and I am truly impressed. I would easily take it over the Moritaka any day of the week.

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x2. If I was shopping for a manufactured carbon steel wa-gyuto the KS would be a no-brainer.

I have a Sakai blue #2 300 yanagiba which is beautiful and unused. It was purchased from bluewayjapan on eBay where you can see the original sale. Would be willing to send it to you at considerable discount.

You can then use the savings to get a better guyto

I have a Gesshin Hide and a Doi Keijiro, both are very well crafted blades, couldn't go wrong with either. Suisin would also be worth considering.

For Gyuto, I would avoid Moritaka, though some have had good fine blades from them. I have a Gesshin Ginga and for the past week have been using a Kochi, both are great performers, there are a number of great choices for gyuto.

Kochi makes excellent gyuto's.

For the gyuto, I'd have to say the Gengetsu is an absolute beast in the performance department, though the edge retention for the white steel isn't super spectacular. I haven't seen any revues on the stainless equivalent, but they're also out of stock. If you want better edge retention, the Kochi is definitely up there in my top choices as well. I can't say it has less stiction than the Gengetsu, but it has a great profile, and is one of the better performers I have at that price range.

This Yoshikane from Aframes perks my interest (if I had not had too many yanagibas already). And it is within your budget (424).



Gesshin Hide, Shigefusa and Suisin Densyo that I have are all great.

For a workhorse gyuto, consider Yoshikane SKD from Maxim. I've recently been using more of SKD11/SKD12 knives and quite like their ease of maintenance as well as edge quality.

You have a lot of good options for gyutos. You should just let us know your experience level, how/for what you'll be using the knife, your preference about carbon vs. stainless...

Below is a list of just a few brands that come to mind as nice knives (roughly from thinnest to thickest). These are just the ones I've tried a little bit, so I'm just giving you a list to check out. Looking at your list reminded me of when I would find random positive reviews for certain knives when I first started. The ones I found weren't always the most recommended, they were just the ones I stumbled upon. You might not be stumbling like I was, though, and if there is a particular reason you listed those gyutos, then let us know so we can better help you.

Sakai Yusuke, Gesshin Ginga (other similar knives: Suisin Inox Honyaki, Tadatsuna, Konosuke...Jon can tell you about the variations on the "laser" theme)
Gengetsu, Kochi, Yoshikane SKD
Heiji, Gesshin Hide

Not sure where this fits in, but the Suisin Inox western series is thin, cuts well, great for a workhorse, and it's cheap.

Thank you for your input. It has been a great help. I am still researching all the recommendations. It is a lot to digest.

I have not really narrowed down my options much. Sounds like a lot of these are really good choices and come down to personal preference mostly. Either way I would have to say this may be my list so far,

yanagi:

1)Shigefusa 300mm $530 w/ out saya. Will come well sharpened. Price is higher then normal probably due to availability. However I have read nothing but good things about this yanagi so I am thinking maybe it is worth it and to not let a few dollars ruin the many years of enjoyment i can have in the future.

2)Geshin Hide $490 w/ saya. This yanagi looks really good. Sounds like its on par with the Shigefusa, $40 cheaper, local for me and comes with a saya.

3)Doi Keijiro $425 Better priced then others, equal quality?

4)Yoshikane Tamamoku schanop posted $420 also looks really sweet.

5)Yoshikane V2 $300 sounds like a good deal

So which of these would you recommend considering the price differences. Is the Shig better then the Doi or Geshin? Sounds like they should be relatively on par with each other but if you had to pick one of the 3 which would it be? $100 difference is something but not a big deal when buying a knife I will hopefully be using for many years of my life.


I will call JKI tomorrow to get some info on a few gyutos. I spent a lot of time researching different yanagis today. Considering your suggestions I will consider the following Gyutos:

Gengetsu $365,
Geshin Ginga $250,
Kochi $310
Yoshikane $236

These are all within in my budget. I just need to figure out what will suit my needs best. I would prefer the gyuto to retain an edge pretty well so I would prefer Carbon. I don't mind taking car of the knife and wiping it down. The Geshin Ginga is well priced and blue #2 as well as the Kochi. So those sound pretty good to me right now being that I would like good edge retention. I can get a more delicate gyuto later if I find the need. Not sure how the edge retention of the Yoshikane compares.

I am a beginner and this will be for home use. I will be using the Gyuto for mostly everything. It should be able to do some chopping and mincing etc... without wearing down the edge too much. I have been using a Wusthof classic for 6+ years. Sharpening on 1000 and 6000 grit wetstones. Always wanted better. Now i have a really nice brand new kitchen. So I figured it is time for me to buy what I really want. I love eating and making sushi a couple times a week so for me the yanagi is really important. Safe to say I am really serious about sushi especially and would like to continue learning everything i can.

schanop said:

This Yoshikane from Aframes perks my interest (if I had not had too many yanagibas already). And it is within your budget (424).

Gesshin Hide, Shigefusa and Suisin Densyo that I have are all great.

For a workhorse gyuto, consider Yoshikane SKD from Maxim. I've recently been using more of SKD11/SKD12 knives and quite like their ease of maintenance as well as edge quality.

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If you had to pick 1 between the yanagis you own which would you chose?

GlassEye said:

I have a Gesshin Hide and a Doi Keijiro, both are very well crafted blades, couldn't go wrong with either. Suisin would also be worth considering.

For Gyuto, I would avoid Moritaka, though some have had good fine blades from them. I have a Gesshin Ginga and for the past week have been using a Kochi, both are great performers, there are a number of great choices for gyuto.

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Which would you pick between the Gesshin and Doi if you had to?

pitonboy said:

I have a Sakai blue #2 300 yanagiba which is beautiful and unused. It was purchased from bluewayjapan on eBay where you can see the original sale. Would be willing to send it to you at considerable discount.

You can then use the savings to get a better guyto

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How much?

familiar1985 said:

schanop said:

Gesshin Hide, Shigefusa and Suisin Densyo that I have are all great.

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If you had to pick 1 between the yanagis you own which would you chose?

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For me, a home use case, I would pick Shigefusa kasumi 270mm from the bunch that I own based on feel and fit and finish. I regularly prepare sushi/sashimi for two just a few more people a couple of times a week. Fish I handle usually is not bigger than 3kg, so 270 has enough length for me and it is quite a few grams lighter than full size Sakai style 300mm yanagiba.

I strongly disagree with taking the KS gyuto off your list. I have one and it is phenomenal in every aspect, especially the profile. My only complaint is that I would prefer an octagonal handle.

http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/Shigefusa-Kasumi-Yanagiba-300mm-p/443.htm

http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/kitchen-knives-by-type/gyuto/kochi-210mm-kurouchi-wa-gyuto.html#

a lot of people have a loooot of love for the masamoto KS. and yes i would want an octagonal handle, i'm a lefty. so a lefty grind and an octagonal handle would be a dream to have.

franzb69 said:

a lot of people have a loooot of love for the masamoto KS. and yes i would want an octagonal handle, i'm a lefty. so a lefty grind and an octagonal handle would be a dream to have.

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have you tried a D-handle in both hands? I find a RH D-handle is comfortable in the left hand as well.

haven't yet. but i'm strongly a lefty when it comes to knives, and i tend to have a heavy grip on the handle so it might be quite uncomfortable for me.

franzb69 said:

haven't yet. but i'm strongly a lefty when it comes to knives, and i tend to have a heavy grip on the handle so it might be quite uncomfortable for me.

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Most handles are friction fit so I would imagine you could just flip it around?

Most handles are friction fit so I would imagine you could just flip it around?

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in my part of the world, we don't really have a lot of access to japanese knives, much less knives with d-handles. so i really wouldn't have known it was like that. kinda ironic since i live in asia and i am so darn close to japan. things like this sometimes kind of makes me think i'd love to have my country less westernized. but thanks for the idea, i kinda like octagonal handles myself.