【Reading】やなぎ

【English Name】Yanagiba (Willow)

Yanagi (willow) is a general term for deciduous or evergreen woody plants classified in the genus Salix of the family Salicaceae, with the scientific name Salix and the English name Willow. Some 400 species are known worldwide, distributed over a wide range from the temperate to frigid zones of the Northern Hemisphere. More than 30 wild species have been confirmed in Japan alone.

The scene where yanagi appears first in the world of sushi is the "yanagiba-bocho" (willow-blade knife). The name derives from the slender blade shape resembling a willow leaf, and it is a single-edged Japanese knife used when slicing sashimi and sushi neta thinly. It is positioned as a basic tool that sushi chefs rely on in their daily work.

As a plant, yanagi prefers moist environments and grows abundantly in the wild along rivers and in wetlands. The distinction in the use of kanji is also interesting: there is a custom of writing the type with drooping branches as "柳" (yanagi) and the type that extends upward as "楊" (yo), and this distinction has been conscious since the time of the Man'yoshu. "Kazami-gusa" and "asobi-gusa" are also elegant alternative names long beloved among the populace.

Because it has such strong propagative power that roots easily emerge from branches stuck into the soil, planting for the purpose of riverbank protection and the prevention of soil erosion has been carried out in various places. In Europe, it is recorded that since prehistoric times branches were woven and used as everyday tools such as baskets and fences.