Custom Limited Edition, Sukenari Honyaki SG-II Series HSG-13 Yanagiba 270mm (10.6 Inch, Single Bevel Edge)

This is the Custom Limited Edition and result for making one of a kinds, Custom Limited Edition Sukenari Honyaki SG-II Series Single Bevel Edge Yanagiba Knife.

The Japanese Traditional Forge Smith and Knife Maker “Sukenari” has over 80 years of forging and knife making experience. As we have said in the past, Sukenari has built an excellent brand name and reputation due to their business style, passion and proactive spirit.

For many years, Sukenari has produced knives with great cutting performance and practicality for professional users, who depend on their knives for their daily work and their living. In Japan, Sukeanri has a direct relationship with many professional chefs, who buy and use their knives. The requests and feedback from these professionals has always been high level; They notice small details and differences and they have high standards, especially with respect to cutting performance and quality.

Sukenari has always done their best to meet the needs of these professional knife users and always uses their feedback to focus and further improve their experience, knowledge, skills and products.

For Sukenari and professional chefs, Sharpness and Cutting Performance is always the top priority. Over the past few decades, Sukenari has also noted that ease of maintenance, particularly rust resistance, has become very important to many professional users.

Sukenari has become famous for their Honyaki knives, particularly the legendary Sukenari Honyaki White Steel No.1 Series knives, which are prized by serious knife users and collectors. Unfortunately, Carbon Steel Honyaki Knives can be hard to take care of and they can easily rust or discolor, which spoils their original, beautiful appearance. Accordingly, we usually only recommend Honyaki Carbon Steel knives to experienced or careful, serious knife users.

3^rd generation smith Master Hanaki, the President of Sukenari, is constantly researching and testing whether knives made from other steel alloys can offer the same level of cutting performance as their famous Honyaki White Steel No.1 Series knives. For over 30 years, Sukenari has been making traditional single bevel edge knives with other special Japanese steels, including Super X and ZDP-4.

In order to satisfy the needs and demands of their professional customers, Sukenari continues to challenge themselves to obtain the best possible cutting performance and practicality from these special steels.

About 6 years ago, Sukenari began researching and making Honyaki SG-II single bevel edge knives. Sukenari has many years of experience in Hammer Forging Honyaki knives, this is a time consuming process that requires great concentration and very consistent, precise hammer blows. Sukenari found their expert Honyaki Hammer Forging Process was very well suited to the production of SG-II Honyaki blades. In fact, Master Hanaki believes the hammer forging process enables him to bring out the best possible cutting performance and the full potential of the SG-II steel.

Sukenari’s SG-II Honyaki blades have a hardness of HRc. 64.5 to 65. It is very difficult and time consuming to grind and finish the solid Honyaki SG-II blades, so production numbers will be very limited.

Sukenari wanted to make something new and special, something that offered the high cutting performance of traditional Honyaki knives AND the corrosion resistance offered by high-tech stainless steels. Through Sukenari’s vision, proactivity, passion and positive energy, they have created these ‘next-generation’ Honyaki SG-II Special Steel Knives.

With a beautiful Mirror Polish and excellent fit and finish, the SG-II Honyaki blade is engraved with the Sukenari “祐成” brand logo on the face side and is engraved with the Kanji “粉末鋼” (Powdered High Speed Tool Steel) on the back side.

We decided to fit this new, futuristic generation of high-end Honyaki blades with  Custom Handmade Octagonal Handle (Stabilized and Dyed Box Elder Burl body, Resin ferrule, Corian collar and endcap with Brass and Black Liner spacers). For safekeeping, this knife comes with a matching Handcrafting Magnolia Wood Saya (Sheath) with a black pakkawood Saya pin.

We hope you can feel Sukenari’s passion and can appreciate what a great achievement these Sukenari SG-II Honyaki Knives are. We love Sukenari’s spirit, passion and desire to challenge themselves, they continue to innovate and create ‘next-level’ traditional forged knives.

Yanagiba knives are primarily used to slice boneless fish fillets for Sashimi and Sushi dishes, but they can also be used to fillet small to medium-sized fish and are often used for skinning fish. The narrow blade and relatively acute edge angle of the Yanagiba are features which greatly reduce the effort required to cut through ingredients. As with the Sujihiki, the long blade allows the fish to be cut in one single drawing motion, from heel to tip. 

The combination of cutting technique, acute blade angle, and sharp edge result in very little cellular damage in the cut surface. This is particularly important for dishes where the fish is eaten raw, because it helps to preserve the original flavor and texture of the fish.

Notice: Special Discount for Knives with Imperfect “粉末鋼” Kanji Markings

As you might imagine, the process of perfectly Marking Japanese kanji characters on to a Mono-Steel SG-II Honyaki Blade can be very challenging.Regretfully, the “粉末鋼“ kanji characters (Meaning “Powdered Steel”) on the backside of this Sukenari SG-II Honyaki Yanagiba knife are partly missing.

We are truly sorry about the incomplete kanji characters, so we have decided to offer a US$100 discount because of this slight imperfection. Other than this single small mistake, this Sukenari SG-II Honyaki Knife is extremely well crafted.

Specification

Knife Model: Custom Limited Edition, Sukenari Honyaki SG-II Series HSG-13 Yanagiba 270mm (Single Bevel Edge)

Blade Material: Hammer Forged Honyaki Solid SG-II Powdered High Speed Tool Steel

Rockwell Hardness (HRc): 64.5 to 65

Blade Grind and Edge Shape: Single Bevel Edge

Handle Material: Custom Handmade Octagonal Handle (Stabilized and Dyed Box Elder Burl body, Resin ferrule, Corian collar and endcap with Brass and Black Liner spacers)

Saya Included: Yes.