Yanagiba and Sashimi Knife Mastery

Osaka/Sakai (blade manufacturing capital), Edo period; Sakai City still produces 90% of professional Japanese knives

The yanagiba (willow blade) is the quintessential sashimi knife of Japanese cuisine — a single-bevel blade 270–360mm long, designed to draw through fish in one smooth pull stroke to produce cleanly severed muscle fibres without compression or tearing. The asymmetric grind (flat on the back, hollow on the face) creates a 'clinging' cut surface that reflects light: in formal kaiseki, the sheen of a sashimi cut is itself an aesthetic signal. Sharpening requires maintaining the ura-oshi (back hollow) and never altering the single bevel angle, typically 10–15 degrees. Regional variants include the takohiki (squared tip, Tokyo/Edomae tradition) and the fuguhiki (thinner, more flexible, for paper-thin fugu sashimi). The blade must be taller than the protein being cut — a short knife requires multiple strokes, bruising the flesh.

The physics of a clean cut matters to taste: torn fibres release more liquid and oxidise faster; a yanagiba cut retains moisture and structural integrity longer