Tojiro Yanagi-Sashimi Zen 210mm (8.3″)

TOJIRO Yanagi-Sashimi 210mm (8.3″) blade length is a handy and low-maintenance single bevel knife for preparing meat and fish, especially for sashimi and nigiri sushi. The 210mm (8.3″) size works well in professional kitchens with limited workspace or is the go-to length for home cooks.

Definition of Zen: 1. a Japanese sect of Mahayana Buddhism that aims at enlightenment by direct intuition through meditation⁠ 2. a state of calm attentiveness in which one’s actions are guided by intuition rather than by conscious effort⁠ 3. the name of a series of knives by the Japanese smithy TOJIRO, identifiable by traditional magnolia wood handles and sleek polished blades.⁠

BLADE SHAPE:
Yanagi-Sashimi knives are primarily intended for long pulls and precise cuts of meat and fish. The long and narrow blade is particularly useful for slicing meat or boneless fish, or for filleting and skinning fish. The long blade allows the meat or fish to be cut in a single drawing motion, from heel to tip.

🚩 It’s a single bevel knife, which means only right-handed users can wield it. While we usually find yanagibas in sushi and Japanese restaurants, there is a growing trend of home cooks owning these beauties for the weekend sushi or BBQ parties.

STEEL:
VG-10 (V for Vanadium, G for “gold” as in “gold standard”) is made by Takefu Special Steel Company, a relatively small steel company that around 60 years ago managed to find just the right balance of different elements to create the most popular Japanese knife making steel today. VG-10 steel is stainless steel with relatively high Carbon (C) content (1%), 15% Chromium (Cr), 1% Molybdenum (Mo), 0.3% Vanadium (V)  and 1.5% Cobalt (Co). The combination of Cr, Mo, and V forms a lot of hard carbides, making the steel abrasion resistant which translates to long-lasting, smooth sharpness. Heat treated to the hardness of 60-61 HRC.

LAMINATION:
The excellent VG-10 steel with the hardness of 61 HRC is clad into 1 layer of softer stainless steel. The outer layer of softer stainless steel forms a “shinogi” line along the entire edge of the blade. Shinogi line represents the border between the harder, inner steel and the outer layer of softer steel.

GEOMETRY:
It has a single bevel (asymmetrical) blade.

BLADE FINISH:
The blade features a clean, highly polished (also called migaki) blade. 

HANDLE:
The blade extends into a traditional Japanese round Wa handle made of the common wood for Japanese handles – magnolia wood – with a black plastic ferrule. 

ABOUT THE BLACKSMITH:
TOJIRO is one of the top 5 largest Japanese kitchen knife manufacturers. They are renowned across Japan and internationally for their top-quality knives for a reasonable price. TOJIRO’s focus on advanced technologies, together with their insatiable dedication for constant improvements of their knives and materials, makes TOJIRO’s knives a must-have in any kitchen. TOJIRO’s main focus? Sharpness! A big bonus is their great team which we are always very eager to meet and talk to! 😊