Hokiyama Yanagiba // Ginsako // 11.8"

Hokiyama Yanagiba Ginsanko is a thin and long traditional Japanese knife designed to cut thin slices of raw fish, as well as large pieces of meat like steaks. While you typically find yanagibas in sushi and Japanese restaurants, there is a growing trend of home cooks owning these beauties for the weekend dinner parties and barbecues. This is a single bevel knife, which means only right-handed users can wield it.

This Yanagiba Ginsanko is made of Hitachi's Silver III steel, also named Ginsan steel or Ginsanko, which was hardened to around 63 HRC to deliver long-lasting edge-retention. Due to its high content of Chromium (Cr), Ginsan steel resists corrosion very well.

Hokiyama blacksmiths fitted a Japanese (Wa) handle with a buffalo horn ferrule. The handle is made of the most commonly-used handle wood in traditional Japanese knives - magnolia wood. 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. It is the preferred wood of Japanese sushi chefs due to its antiseptic properties.

Hokiyama Hamono is a leading smithery in Kochi Prefecture in Japan who recently celebrated their 100-year anniversary. Hokiyama Hamono is known for their quality, handcrafting blades in accordance to traditional methods that have been around over 800 years. They retain the handiwork and traditional craftsmanship passed down from generation to generation while incorporating modern technological guidelines in the field of metallurgy, material processing, and the production processes. Hokiyama, in their own words, is a fusion of tradition (土佐 一), innovation (無限) and practicality (左近).

Each knife in the smithery goes through about 50 different processes that are performed and controlled by experienced craftsmen. Among the various steps required to make a Hokiyama knife is a special process called Rolling-Forging. It enables the efficient and uniform production of knives while maintaining the properties and qualities of Japanese steel.