Samura Okinawa Stonewash Yanagiba Knife 240 mm

The Samura Okinawa Stonewash yanagiba knife is a long, Japanese-style slicing knife for fish. With its 240 mm blade you can slice a fish fillet in a single motion, and you can also use it to slice vegetables. This is the Stonewash version of the Okinawa yanagiba, with a stonewash-finished blade and a rosewood handle.

Blade and steel

The blade is a single layer of AUS-8 stainless steel, hardened to 58–59 HRC. AUS-8 is a corrosion-resistant steel, and at this hardness the edge holds up well to regular slicing while you can still restore it on a whetstone. The Okinawa series offers its blades in plain AUS-8 or AUS-8 Stonewash; this knife has the stonewash finish. The blade is 40 mm high.

Okinawa knives have single-bevel or double-bevel blades depending on the model, and this yanagiba has a single-bevel edge. It is ground on one side only, while the other side stays flat, so it is sharpened differently from a double-bevel knife.

Handle and balance

As on every Okinawa knife, the handle is made of rosewood, here fitted with a nylon bolster. The knife weighs 133 g net and measures 390 mm overall.

Best uses

• Slicing fish fillets in a single motion
• Preparing fish for your favourite Japanese dishes
• Slicing vegetables

Care and sharpening

Before first use, rinse the knife with hot water and wipe it dry. Clean it by hand with non-abrasive materials, wipe it dry and do not leave it in the sink for long; a dishwasher is not recommended. Use it only on wooden or plastic boards, never on glass, leave bones to a SAMURA cleaver and frozen food to a double-sided serrated saw knife, and store it where the blade does not touch metal items. Keep the original factory bevel angle of 15–17° on the whetstone: sharpen the bevelled side until a uniform burr appears, then pass the flat side lightly over the stone a few times, and use a honing rod between sharpenings.

About the Okinawa Stonewash series

Okinawa Stonewash knives are the stonewash versions of the Okinawa series, which unites modern technology with cultural heritage and reflects SAMURA's deep respect for Japanese knife-making traditions. Their corrosion-resistant AUS-8 steel blades are crafted in classic Japanese shapes, and like all SAMURA knives, they come with a 2-year warranty.