A yanagiba slips through food effortlessly and its incredible sharpness means you never struggle. The yanagiba is a gateway knife for people wanting to get into single bevels and learn some new tricks. When slicing meat or fish, this blade will naturally want to pull to the left on a right-handed knife. (the opposite is true for a lefty.) As the driver of the blade, you must take control and tell it where to go. That may sound tricky, but you will get the hang of it after a few slices. Still, it can take years to master this knife.

The Takeda Hamono NAS Aogami Super range is forged from Aogami Super Blue Super carbon steel, one of the highest performing traditional Japanese knife steels, manufactured using advanced alloying with high levels of carbon, tungsten, molybdenum, chromium, and vanadium. The high carbon content allows the blades to achieve exceptional hardness, typically around 62–64 HRC, delivering outstanding edge retention and the ability to take an extremely fine, razor sharp edge. Tungsten and vanadium contribute to the formation of hard carbides, improving wear resistance and cutting longevity, while molybdenum enhances toughness and stability during heat treatment.

Each blade is traditionally hand-forged by Shosui Takeda using san mai construction, with a hard Aogami Super core protected by softer cladding layers to balance cutting performance, durability, and strength. The NAS range is renowned among professional chefs for its exceptional sharpness, unique forged finish, and the combination of advanced metallurgy with centuries old Japanese blacksmithing techniques.

Weight: 117g

Handle Material: Wa handle - Magnolia wood, Buffalo horn ferrule

Handle Length: 135mm (5.3")

Blade Length: 249mm (9.8")

Blade Depth: 37mm

Thickness at spine: 2.0mm

Thickness at tip: 0.8mm

Cutting Edge: Double 50/50

Blade Material: Aogami Super (Blue Super) (Carbon steel)

Hardness (Rockwell scale): 63 - 64