MaiaMaia Dragon Stone Yanagiba

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Maia Maia Dragon Stone Series

Yanagiba 300mm

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As a Japanese culture Enthusiast, I have always been particularly fascinated by its blades, perhaps much of this interest can be attributed to the “Successor of Togakure” (世界忍者戦ジライヤ), which occupied much of the childhood of those born in the 1980s.

Human beings are driven by their dreams, their goals, and also by challenges, and in recent years I have felt the need to create something with my own hands, and this project came to unite this desire, the attraction for Japanese culture, and passion for design. After many years of research, study, and planning, soon I will be launching my own limited series of knives, signed and numbered, created and produced by hand, using traditional Japanese techniques, within my limitations, of course, and also the modernization of some processes. Totally created by me from scratch, from the steel forging and all other processes involved, from the design of the blade, and the handle, to the creation of the packaging. Wow! This is a huge challenge.

So, this is Yanagiba, a traditional-style Japanese knife with a thin and long, delicate, but powerful single-beveled blade, made from high-quality, high-carbon steel. The blade anatomy can be easily summed up in a single word, precision. Mainly used to slice boneless fish fillets for sashimi or nigiri sushi, its single-beveled blade edge is very sharpened, while the other side is slightly curved, to prevent fish from sticking to the blade, a true engineering masterpiece for this function.

At 4mm, these blades are thicker than the average Western knife but are still considered relatively thin by Japanese standards.

With a slightly traditional design, the hand-made hammered texture, and the dark patina, the reinterpretation of the octagonal handle with a branded pommel, complete its very attractive visual.

Rafael Maia

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