Ikenami Hamono left-handed Sakana-sabaki 150mm

The sakana-sabaki is a specialist knife for breaking down fish, and this is the left-handed version. Other makers might name a knife of this weight and purpose as mioroshi-deba, although at under six inches it would be a short one.

The blade is solid but the knife overall is much lighter than the Ikenami Hamono deba of equivalent length, which is roughly twice the weight. The sakana-sabaki is easier on the wrist and can be wielded with more finesse. 

"Sabaku" is the Japanese verb for divide or separate. 'Sakana-sabaki' could be roughly translated as 'fish divider'. For the fish that require more effort than a simple san-mai oroshi this knife will make short work of whipping off the bits you can't eat or sell.

Put some thought into how you'll handle sharpening - Tanegashima forging results in a very hard steel that is slow to sharpen. Edge retention is excellent. Most professional buyers here in Japan would turn to a pro sharpener at least once a year. Having said that the blade length is manageable if you have the patience, the enthusiasm and the whetstones to sharpen it yourself.

To our knowledge the sakana-sabaki style is a rarity and the left-hander's sakana-sabaki even more so. Happily the lefty tax is a modest one and stock is usually available.