Honesuki means "bone lover". This knife is mainly used for boning chicken. Traditionally, the Honesuki has only one bevel, with a concave on the back side of the blade. This helps to work around the joints when boning. The upper part of the cutting edge and the thin tip are used to cut through ligaments and remove skin, while the stronger heel is used to get between bones. The Honesuki can be used for deboning all poultry and smaller pieces of red meat and for butchering small fish.
The city of Sanjo in Niigata Prefecture has been famous for its blacksmithing since the 1600s. In the early years, they mainly forged nails by hand. Then, from 1660, different forging techniques were introduced by blacksmiths from Aizu. Thanks to this, the blacksmiths of the city began to diversify their production. The quality of Sanjo's tools and knives enjoyed a strong reputation in Japan at that time, and it still does today.
Simply explained, Aogami #2 developed by Hitachi Metals is a steel made from Shirogami #2 in which some chromium and tungsten are added for better durability and corrosion resistance. In addition to that, the higher carbon content of the steel allows for better cutting retention. Objectively, the Aogami #2 is an improvement over the Shirogami #2. For patina lovers, however, Shirogami steel will be more reactive to oxidation and could be an advantage.
