Ikenami Hamono Sakana-sabaki 150mm

The sakana-sabaki is a specialist knife for breaking down fish, sometimes called a mioroshi deba. It boasts a sturdy blade but is much lighter than a deba of equivalent length, which would roughly twice the weight. 

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

Edge retention is excellent. Minimise contact with your board and this knife will remain sharp. Put some thought into how you'll sharpen this knife - Tanegashima Island's traditional heat treatment results in a very hard steel that is slow to sharpen. Most professional buyers here in Japan would seek out Mr Ikenami for sharpening at least once a year. Having said that, the blade length is manageable if you have the patience, enthusiasm and the whetstones to sharpen it yourself.

Ikenami Hamono are specialists when it comes to fish knives for professional users, and the sakana-sabaki is a stand out in a range of stand outs. It just seems so... perfect.