What is your favourite Yanagi?

[Wander Vanhoucke]

hey everyone,
doing some research on what makes a good Yanagiba tick. This might be a good way to educate the forum: why don't you post your favourites? Choil shots are very welcome as well measurements or anything interesting.
It seems like everyone knows what makes a good gyuto, but I think single bevel knives are not nearly as dissected enough.

cheers

 

[AFKitchenknivesguy]

Shigefusa 345mm

 

[DitmasPork]

I only have one yanagiba, a 270 Shigefusa, lefty. Love it dearly, haven't felt a need to get another. Very nimble, wonderfully finished, perfect profile and grind IMO. Very reasonably priced new at DKK1,350.00, back in 2014.

 

[dafox]

I have a Masamoto Sohonten w#2 hon kasumi 240 yanagiba and a Masamoto Tsukiji w#1 hon kasumi 270 fuguhiki. The fit and finish if the Sohonten is better but it came with a huge micro bevel that I finally removed, hamaguri sharpening, the Tsukiji's w#1 steel takes a screaming sharp edge. Like most of my knives I gravitate towards lighter knives, a 270 yanagiba was too much for me a 240 seems a bit small but a heavier 270 fuguhiki seems just about right.

 

[YumYumSauce]

Finally bit the bullet and ordered my 1st yanagiba, a lefty gesshin uraku. Just arrived but Im outta town. Excited to be able to handle a correct hand version finally. Also curious to find out what others like.

 

[DitmasPork]

Finally bit the bullet and ordered my 1st yanagiba, a lefty gesshin uraku. Just arrived but Im outta town. Excited to be able to handle a correct hand version finally. Also curious to find out what others like.

Awesome! Urakus are wonderful knives, good lefty option, have an Uraku lefty deba. The lefty Hide yanagibas at JKI have been tempting me a lot.

 

[YumYumSauce]

Awesome! Urakus are wonderful knives, good lefty option, have an Uraku lefty deba. The lefty Hide yanagibas at JKI have been tempting me a lot.

Absolutely! My 1st Uraku was the white #2 gyuto. 1st single bevel was the 180 mm uraku deba as well. I figured id start off with a proper known brand to learn on, as us correct handers have limited options. Ill probably yolo and end up getting the Uraku usuba to round out the set by the end of the year lol. Depending on how things go, Im highly interested in the Hide too.

 

[lumo]

Shigefusa 345mm
View attachment 96229View attachment 96230View attachment 96228

I was so close, in my mind, to getting that a few weeks ago but it disappeared from my cart.

 

[j22582536]

In my opinion, Shigefusa makes the best Kasumi (soft iron cladding) single bevels, the F&F is just awesome.

For Honyaki I’ll say Okishiba Masakuni and Tatsuo Ikeda; both of them made incredible Honyaki single bevels, sadly both passed away. So for blacksmiths that still make knives, I’ll go with Genkai Masakuni and Yoshikazu Ikeda.

I personally prefer using Kasumi yanagi over Honyaki simply because it is so much easier to sharpen. Honyaki took me forever....

 

[Wander Vanhoucke]

I personally prefer using Kasumi yanagi over Honyaki simply because it is so much easier to sharpen. Honyaki took me forever....

honyaki yanagibas are better to hang on your wall no?

 

[Wander Vanhoucke]

People! please also say WHY you like them the best.

 

[AFKitchenknivesguy]

I was so close, in my mind, to getting that a few weeks ago but it disappeared from my cart.

Sorry about that brother, you been here long enough to know some of us have no control

 

[j22582536]

honyaki yanagibas are better to hang on your wall no?

Both Kasumi and Honyaki stay pretty steady on magnetic bar, however I store all my single bevel knives in display cabinets instead because the magnet is kinda strong and I was afraid that it might damage the edges on single bevels.

 

[Qapla']

Shigefusa 345mm

That's definitely not a size you see or even hear of that often. What made you choose 345mm, and how do you most often use it?

I was so close, in my mind, to getting that a few weeks ago but it disappeared from my cart.

What made you choose 345mm, and which (presumably 345mm) yanagiba do you currently use instead?

 

[j22582536]

People! please also say WHY you like them the best.

Not sure about others, but here’s the reason why I like shigefusa single bevel the most. Most knife makers use sharpening wheels to finish up their knives. The problem with sharpening wheel is that it creates uneven surface through out the blade, which will take you a lot of time and work to flatten and even the surface out. Shigefusa single bevel doesn’t have this problem because everything is done by hands and sharpened on whetstones; so as long as you sharpen it properly, the edge and uraoshi can stay in good shape for a very long time.

 

[AFKitchenknivesguy]

That's definitely not a size you see or even hear of that often. What made you choose 345mm, and how do you most often use it?


What made you choose 345mm, and which (presumably 345mm) yanagiba do you currently use instead?

For both these questions, I believe only i can answer and I paid for the knife before he could. Like you, I saw it was an unusual size which motivated me to get it. I do use a yanagiba, but its 300mm when I make sushi at home. This one is still in its box, taken out occasionally to caress.

 

[mdreb]

Maybe a dumb question but does anyone use a yanagiba instead of a suji?
Not trying to highjack...
Thank you

 

[Twigg]

Hope this is ok, it’s a close relative to the yanagiba.
270 Sakai Masayuki Takohiki
It is my favorite for very simple reasons. 1) It is beautiful in hand 2) It’s the only fish slicer I have

 

[Qapla']

Hope this is ok, it’s a close relative to the yanagiba.
270 Sakai Masayuki Takohiki
It is my favorite for very simple reasons. 1) It is beautiful in hand 2) It’s the only fish slicer I have

That's pretty cool; there aren't too many takohiki users on the forum. How do you find it in use? I've heard that takohiki's make things like usuzukuri easier and are also useful for the plating of sashimi.

 

[RDalman]

People! please also say WHY you like them the best.

You probably got that answer here many times already. The shigefusa single bevels pictured are probably so liked for the whole package, and as maker you're probably not even served trying to dissect the "specs" without sooner ending up rather trying to figure the processes/craftsmanship. From the forging to the grinds/finish being "just so" etc... As you can see, the blade have a beautifully done thin lamination, elegant taper, everything very neatly done, on a pretty complex to make blade. I'd say it's alot more about execution/consistency over design.

 

[adam92]

I only have one yanagiba, a 270 Shigefusa, lefty. Love it dearly, haven't felt a need to get another. Very nimble, wonderfully finished, perfect profile and grind IMO. Very reasonably priced new at DKK1,350.00, back in 2014.

View attachment 96235

Let me know one day if you're planning to sell.

 

[adam92]

Finally bit the bullet and ordered my 1st yanagiba, a lefty gesshin uraku. Just arrived but Im outta town. Excited to be able to handle a correct hand version finally. Also curious to find out what others like.

Took some pictures when you get your knife, loved to see.

 

[Twigg]

That's pretty cool; there aren't too many takohiki users on the forum. How do you find it in use? I've heard that takohiki's make things like usuzukuri easier and are also useful for the plating of sashimi.

I have only used it to portion sashimi as I haven't had it for very long. I imagine it will do very well with super thin slices. The blade certainly is an incredible slicer! As for plating, the flat tip makes things great for transferring from the board. I was originally looking for a yanagiba, but stumbled on this and figured, why not.

 

[Wander Vanhoucke]

You probably got that answer here many times already. The shigefusa single bevels pictured are probably so liked for the whole package, and as maker you're probably not even served trying to dissect the "specs" without sooner ending up rather trying to figure the processes/craftsmanship. From the forging to the grinds/finish being "just so" etc... As you can see, the blade have a beautifully done thin lamination, elegant taper, everything very neatly done, on a pretty complex to make blade. I'd say it's alot more about execution/consistency over design.

That seems to be the case... I was hoping to get down in the details about taper and edge geometry

 

[Wander Vanhoucke]

That seems to be the case... I was hoping to get down in the details about taper and edge geometry

Anyone want to post their spine and choil shots of their genkai or okishiba?

 

[DitmasPork]

Let me know one day if you're planning to sell.

Will do, but unlikely to sell, more interested in buying another, since I only have one yanagiba.

 

[YumYumSauce]

Ended up staying out of town longer than expected. Finally back to take pics of the Lefty 270mm Gesshin Uraku Yanagiba. Measurements can be found on the jki website. I asked for initial sharpening.Used one to practice slicing a fillet of tuna. Feels very blade heavy. Really enjoying the look of the blonde.

Not the best at taking pics so hope they turned out okay:

 

[knspiracy]

Anyone want to post their spine and choil shots of their genkai or okishiba?

^spine okishiba 330mm yanagiba

^choil okishiba 330mm yanagiba

^spine okishiba 360mm yanagiba

^choil okishiba 360mm yanagiba

 

[luuogle]

Only Yanagiba I own a Keijiro Doi Dragon 270 mm yanagiba.

 

[big_adventure]

I only have one, a 300mm FRKZ Hon Kasumi Gin 3 right handed k-tip Yanagiba from JCK. It was forged by Shiraki and sharpened by Kasahara. Fit and finish are exceptional, it does the job magnificently. I can't see myself ever using it for anything but sushi and sashimi, but it's epic for those things.

This one.