How to Source Yanagiba Knives for Japanese Restaurant Supply

What A Yanagiba OEM Spec Really Means

For a yanagiba sashimi knife OEM program sold into Japanese-restaurant supply, the spec should describe a single-bevel slicer with a long, narrow blade. Not a chef knife. Not a sujihiki. The standard catalog lengths are 240 mm, 270 mm, 300 mm, and 330 mm. We ship about 6 cartons of 270 mm for every 10 cartons in this category because restaurant-supply brands like a size that fits both sushi bars and prep stations. The 300 mm and 330 mm versions make more sense for hotel kitchens and sushi counters where the chef wants one clean pull through a 35 mm tuna block. Last month QC pulled a 270 mm sample that looked fine in photos, but the heel height was 2 mm short against the approved drawing.

The spec sheet also needs to say right-handed or left-handed, because a true yanagiba grind is not symmetrical. Leave it blank and a Yangjiang factory may quote a generic bevel. The math doesn't work if your buyer expects the knife to steer like a Japanese single bevel. State the target spine thickness, heel height, blade taper, and final polish level, with tolerances where they matter, such as spine 3.0 mm +/-0.2 mm at the heel. On our grinding line, QC checks the ura side and edge angle before handle assembly, so I normally ask export buyers to lock blade geometry, handle material, and edge finish before carton art enters the PO. We have seen this go sideways when the PO says “single bevel” but the sample tag says “right hand 70/30.”

Make the supplier answer five questions before price: is this a true single-bevel yanagiba, what length is it, which hand is it ground for, what HRC band is acceptable, and what is the target unit weight. Lock those five items. Quoting is faster, and the factory can run a repeatable batch in China instead of guessing your shelf price from a logo file and one blurry sample photo. A 15 g weight gap across a 500 pcs batch will get flagged by a careful restaurant-supply buyer, and yes, the buyer will ask why the 10 pcs pre-shipment sample felt lighter than the approved counter sample.

The Spec Sheet That Sets The Price

For yanagiba sashimi knife OEM orders, 7 lines on the quote sheet usually decide the price: blade length, steel grade with target HRC, handle material, blade finish, logo method, box style, and order quantity by SKU. Basic stuff. It still saves money. We see this every week. Last month QC pulled two 300 mm samples from the grinding line because the PO said "mirror polish" while the buyer's sample was satin only, so the FOB China quote had to be revised before sampling. One word cost 2 days.

Put that table inside your RFQ. With clean specs, a China yanagiba sashimi knife OEM manufacturer can quote a standard stainless model in 1 working day. Add left-hand grinding, mirror finishing, or a custom saya, and the math changes fast. We run separate jigs for left-hand bevels; the buyer often flags the first sample because the ura angle looks "opposite" to their restaurant customer. Asking only for the steel price is the wrong question to ask. The quote follows process load, rejected blades after straightening, and polishing minutes at the bench. We have seen 300 pcs price the same on steel, then move USD 0.70 per knife because the finish changed from satin to mirror.

Steel, Heat Treat, And Edge Geometry

For export foodservice, steel choice matters because restaurant staff will not baby these knives. We run 9Cr18MoV and 10Cr15CoMoV often for yanagiba orders because they hold a clean edge, resist sink-side rust, and keep FOB inside a workable range for 120-piece carton runs. AUS-10 is the better premium pick when the buyer wants more edge life and accepts the steel cost. For a traditional sushi-chef line, carbon steel or carbon-clad builds cut with a finer feel, but packing must be tighter: oil paper with full blade coverage, 5 g dry silica gel in the inner box, and no fingerprints left after QC wipes the blade under the bench light. Small thing, big claim risk. We had one restaurant-supply buyer reject 36 pcs because two blades showed thumb marks near the machi after the pre-shipment photos.

Heat treatment decides whether the sample feels professional or cheap. No shortcut here. A real production target for stainless yanagiba is usually 60-62 HRC, checked with the Rockwell tester after tempering, not guessed from the steel grade printed on the quotation. Carbon builds may run 61-64 HRC if the steel and quench are controlled. Push hardness too high and chipping complaints start, especially on 270 mm and 300 mm thin blades. Too soft, and the edge rolls before the restaurant finishes one dinner service. We have seen this go sideways when a buyer asked for 64 HRC on stainless to sound premium; the math does not work. The wrong question is “what is the highest HRC?” Ask what HRC range the factory can hold across 500 pcs, with test points from the first, middle, and last trays after tempering.

Do not ignore the geometry. A yanagiba is not sharpened like a Western chef knife. The bevel side normally sits around 10-15 degrees, with a lightly relieved back and careful ura work so the blade slices instead of wedges. Ask for the final edge finish in grit terms, such as 800, 1000, or 3000, because it controls bite and cutting feel. On the grinding line, QC pulled one sample last month where the primary bevel drifted by about 1.5 mm from heel to tip, and the buyer flagged it before approving the 500-piece PO. Fair pushback. If you sell to chefs who stone-sharpen in-house, request a consistent primary bevel and a clean secondary edge, not a mirror-polished profile that looks good in photos but cannot be repeated across 500 pieces.

Handles, Balance, And Restaurant Use

Handle choice is not cosmetic when you supply restaurants. A ho wood wa-handle with a buffalo ferrule looks right on a yanagiba, but we do not like it as the default for chain kitchens or distributor programs. We have had buyers flag 0.2 mm hairline gaps at the ferrule after steam-table storage, even when the blade passed AQL 2.5. If the account wants better moisture resistance and less seasonal movement, pakkawood or stabilized wood is the safer commercial choice. For a 270 mm yanagiba, we run finished handle length around 140-150 mm, then check the fit with a caliper before final packing. Balance should sit slightly blade-forward so the pull cut feels clean, not nose-diving.

Balance shows up fast. The sushi cook feels it in the first five minutes at the counter. Too handle-heavy, and the knife drags. Too much tip weight, and long sashimi pulls start to wander. For a private label program, ask the factory for a target finished weight, often around 160-220 g depending on blade length and steel, then put that number on the spec sheet. "Premium feel" means nothing to the grinding line; we have seen that phrase turn into three sample rounds and 12 days of lost time.

If you need left-handed and right-handed versions, treat them as separate SKUs. A left-handed run usually needs a new grind setup, separate QC, and slower output on the bevel inspection table. QC pulled one left-hand sample last year where the ura was correct but the handle logo faced the wrong way. Small thing. Still a remake. In China, that can raise MOQ by 20-30% unless you are already ordering volume. The math often does not work for a first order of 300 pcs. For restaurant brands, we usually ship a core right-handed line first, then add a smaller left-handed extension only after sales data proves the demand.

MOQ, Lead Time, And Compliance

For a yanagiba sashimi knife OEM order, 300 pcs per SKU is a workable MOQ from a serious Yangjiang factory when the spec stays with standard stainless steel and an existing handle mold. Add a custom handle, laser logo, printed sleeve, and retail box; 500 pcs is the cleaner starting point because the packing team must set the box die line, barcode position, and sleeve color proof before mass run. Below that, the grinding line still needs the same jig setup and wheel dressing. No shortcut there. Carbon steel with rust-prevention packing, or mirror-polish work with handmade finishing, usually pushes MOQ to 800-1,000 pcs; QC pulled 23 blades from one 600 pcs mirror-polish trial because the bevel reflection showed waves under the inspection lamp.

Lead time is usually 45-60 days after sample approval, plus 7-10 days for custom packaging. Samples take 10-15 days when the factory already has the blade profile and handle tooling. If the supplier needs a new wooden handle shape, add about 12 days for CNC adjustment and hand sanding checks, and we run calipers across the ferrule fit before sending the approval photos. One week for a full custom yanagiba? Wrong question. That is usually a stock blade with your logo, not true OEM.

For compliance, ask for the papers your buyer will actually open: ISO 9001 for process control; BSCI when the retailer asks for a social audit; material declarations for REACH and LFGB where the market needs them. For the US foodservice channel, buyers ask for FDA-compliant food-contact materials. We have seen 2 orders held because the PO said LFGB but the carton mark only showed FDA. Painful delay. For inspection, 8 out of 10 importers we ship use AQL 2.5 for major defects and 4.0 for minor defects. That is a sensible base for knives if your critical items spell out blade straightness within 1.0 mm, edge continuity with no flat spots, handle fit with no 0.3 mm gaps, and logo placement in mm tolerances; on one shipment, the buyer flagged a 2 mm logo drift near the machi, and the math did not work for rework after cartons were sealed. If the supplier is selling from Yangjiang or a Zhejiang trading office, China, they should still be able to work to that standard.

Quality Checks Before You Ship

The cheapest claim is the one we stop before steel reaches the grinding line. For yanagiba OEM orders, we freeze the acceptance sheet before production starts: shinogi-side thickness measured in mm with a Mitutoyo digital caliper, ura relief checked for drag marks after hollow grinding, spine runout checked on a flat gauge, and tip protection checked again after the inner box is closed. Sharp is not enough. Wrong question, honestly. A 300 mm blade can slice receipt paper cleanly and still show a 1.5 mm warp when it sits in a retail tray.

• Measure hardness on every batch, not just one sample, and write the actual range beside the heat-treatment lot number.
• Confirm blade straightness against a flat gauge, with extra checks on 300 mm and 330 mm models because long single-bevel blades punish small runout.
• Inspect the edge for micro-chips after polishing and before final packing; QC pulled 7 pieces last month after the buffing wheel kissed the tip.
• Check ferrule fit under strong light, then press the handle by hand to catch tang movement or a visible handle gap.
• Require anti-rust paper or VCI packing for ocean freight from China, because 28 days in a damp container can ruin a clean satin finish.

For export cartons, we ship cleaner when each knife has its own blade sleeve and sealed moisture barrier. The master carton label should show SKU, length, hand orientation, and carton count in type a warehouse scanner can read from the aisle, usually 20 mm text or bigger. Warehouse teams notice. One US distributor flagged a PO typo where "right hand" became "left hand," and the carton mark caught it before 48 cartons went into stock. A Yangjiang factory should send pre-shipment photos, batch numbers, and a one-page inspection report without being chased. Anything less is how the first container goes sideways.

Frequently asked questions