The Yanagiba (Sashimi) knife is used to slice boneless fish fillets for sashimi. The long length of sharp blade enables it to cut off a whole slice of fish at once, which makes smooth and shiny sashimi maximizing the taste. The surface of the blade is called Nashiji because it looks like skin of Japanese pear (= Nashi) and this surface helps prevent slices from sticking to the blade. This Yanagiba (Sashimi) knife, Nashiji has a sandwich structure with 2 layers of stainless steel sandwiching shirogami (white paper) no.1 steel. The shirogami (white paper) no.1 steel is a high-carbon, white steel, made by Hitachi Metals Ltd., that produces a hard and very sharp cutting blade. This knife is very reasonably priced.