YANAGIBA Knives
The four pictures here show a knife we had made for us by Nenohi in the early part of 2007. This YANAGIBA knife was hand forged using the Mizu-Honyaki technique, meaning that it was water totally tempered. This knife cost $3,500 retail in Japan.
Kaede and Keyaki
 NENOHI, KAEDE-stainless 300mm YANAGIBA |
 NENOHI, KEYAKI (KDX)-stainless 300mm YANAGIBA |
The two pictures here show two different stainless steel knives made by Nenohi. The one on the left is a Kaede blade, and the one on the right is a Keyaki blade. The Kaede blade line is very popular in Japan, and has been sold by Mutual Trading Company in America since the start of 2008. Included some wide blade version of YANAGIBA (lower in left photo) and KIRITSUKE type of YANAGIBA blades exclusively by MTC.
Because of the special high carbon stainless with which these knives were made, they have an extremely sharp cutting edge. The Keyaki blade on the right is made with KDX steel, the hardest type of stainless steel available in the world. They are about 2.5 times harder than regular HONYAKI blades. This is a good thing for thinner cutting, but poses a problem when sharpening. It is not very easy to do, even for a sushi chef. However, the blade is sharp to the point that words cannot properly describe it. Personally, this is my favorite knife (Producer).
Japan's Number One, YANAGIBA-BLADE
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 Knife Polisher, Shinpei Ino |
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| 300mm X 48mm width YANAGIBA-BLADE | Knife Forger, Yoshikazu Inoue |
Both of these blades are best ever made in Japan, and one of a kind sushi knife from Sakai, Osaka-Japan. 2 blades set NENIHIMARU for at least $40,000 for retain in the U.S.. These are the best of best ever made in Japan until year of 2009.