Yanagiba translates as “willow blade” since the narrow, long and curved blade shape on the back side resembles a willow leaf. The specialty of the Yanagiba is slicing fish in a precise and clean way for cutting sashimi or nigiri for example. It can also be used for filleting certain fishes and slicing meat. The very fine cutting edge can be damaged easily, so we advise you to be careful with bones. The concave back of the knife (urusaki) creates an air gap between the fish flesh and the blade, making it easy to detach the blade from the fish flesh, while the bevel on the face of the knife (shinogi) makes it easy to detach the piece of fish being sliced. The Yanagiba is generally found between 210 mm and 330 mm.
The Aogami #1 by Hitchachi steel co translates to blue steel #1. It was named after the color of the paper in which the steel is packaged at Hitachi steel co. This steel has the same carbon content as Shirogami #1 (1.25-1.3%), but in addition tungsten and chromium are added to the composition. This improves corrosion resistance, wear resistance and cutting edge retention. It is considered by many to be the best steel for single bevel blades.
