Yoshikazu Ikeda White 1 Wave Hamon Mizu-Honyaki Yanagiba 300mm Blade Only

A yanagiba (柳刃包丁) is a sashimi knife for slicing raw fish. A knife maker's guide says a sashimi knife cuts without breaking the fibres of the flesh, and that it is longer and narrower than other knives because slicing sashimi with crisp edges needs the length.

The whole length goes through one pulling cut. The Sakai cutlery association calls the yanagiba the sashimi knife used mainly in the Kansai region.

Size a yanagiba to the fish you prepare: a knife maker's guide gives 270 to 360 mm for professional use and 240 to 270 mm for home use, with 270 mm at home if you slice larger fish.

The guide says the whole length goes through one pulling cut, so do not choose too short a knife, and at home it points to the size of your board and your work space. We list the yanagiba (柳刃) from 210 to 360 mm, some made for left-handed use.

No. The Sakai cutlery association describes the yanagiba (柳刃包丁) edge as so acute that it cannot be used on hard things such as bones.

For bones the association describes the deba (出刃包丁), whose heel is used to hit them.

Yes, among Shirogami 1, 2 and 3 on Proterial's pages. It describes Shirogami 1 (白紙1号) as having the highest hardness and gives it 1.25 to 1.35% carbon, compared with high hardness and 1.05 to 1.15% carbon for Shirogami 2, and middle hardness and 0.80 to 0.90% carbon for Shirogami 3.

All three are carbon steels that can rust, so wash the knife and dry it after use.

Mizu honyaki (水本焼) is water-quenched honyaki, and Yoshikazu Ikeda's own page says it is one of the professional Japanese knives he mainly makes. The Ikeda honyaki we list under titles that say Mizu-Honyaki are water-quenched.

On hardening, Ikeda says on the City of Sakai film site that the fire's temperature is everything and that he judges it by the colour of the flame. Honyaki can run about 1 to 2 HRC harder than comparable non-honyaki knives, and how much varies by maker.

Yoshikazu Ikeda (池田美和) of Ikeda Tanrenjo (池田鍛錬所) in Sakai, who began making knives under his father, a blacksmith, in 1967 and went independent as Ikeda Tanrenjo in 1983.

The City of Sakai's register lists him under forging (鍛冶), certified in 1988.

Yes. His profile page records his certification as a traditional craftsman by Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry in 1988.

The same page dates his start in knives to 1967, working under his father, a blacksmith, and records the workshop's independence as Ikeda Tanrenjo in 1983.