The Tojiro Aogami Damaskus Yanagi knife 24 cm is a single-beveled traditional Japanese slicing knife, used in Japanese cuisine to prepare sashimi (sliced raw fish or other seafood). 

Its long blade allows creating easily thin, perfect slices of raw fish, needed for sushi and sashimi.

Made for right-hand use unless described otherwise, the yanagi-ba has a bevel on the right side and a concave on the left. This allows a more acute angle compared to most double bevel knives and nonstick properties.

The back face (urasuki) is concave to easily detach the blade from the substance being cut and the front bevel (shinogi) allows sliced piece to be easily removed from the blade after cutting.

The long blade allows the user to cut a block of flesh in a single stroke. This prevents zigzag cutting which creates a serrated cross section.
To slice, start with the back of the knife blade and simply pull it through the fish, letting the weight of the blade itself do the work. 

The Aogami Damaskus collection is the Tojiro masterpiece series of free hand forging knife. 
Each knife is carefully made, one at a time, with the same techniques used in making japanese swords. 

The blade core of the knife is Aogami#2.

Aogami#2 "Blue Paper" steel  (Hitachi Metals Ltd.) is one of the greatest Japanese Carbon Steels.
Carbon steel tends to be much tougher, much more durable and easier to sharpen than stainless steel. Nevertheless, it lacks the chromium content of stainless steel, making it susceptible to corrosion.

In order to avoid corrosion, the core is clad on the right side with 17 carbon irons that have different carbon content. It is hardened to a hardness of 62+/-1 HRC.
The edge on a Aogami Damaskus knife is single beveled at a 15° angle creating a very sharp edge and making it a right hand knife.

The Aogami Damaskus series consists of traditional Japanese shaped knives. The relatively large traditional handle on these knives is made from light-weight oak wood with a black buffalo horn ferrule.

The handle is shaped in the traditional Japanese D-shape, meaning it is suited for right-handed use.

Use and Care

• Use a sharpening stone to sharpen your knife
• Hand wash in warm water and towel dry
• Do not cut any frozen foods