New Cook’s Knife “Yanagiba”

Today being a holiday for me I pulled on my wellingtons and went to Tsukiji central fish market. It is only four or five stops on the underground from my place. A friend of mine wanted me to buy him a whetstone, and I needed a few supplies myself. However, I also ended up buying a new kitchen knife…a yanagiba (literally ‘willow blade’) knife which is used for cutting fillets of fish such as sashimi. I bought mine from the traditional knifemakers and cutlers Aritsugu. After three years of using a cheap beginners’ grade blade I ought to use a proper one. Much like their other branch in Kyoto, if you buy an Aritsugu knife the artesan in the store will carve your name into the blade for free while you wait.