The Oyanagi Katsubako Ouza is a handmade Japanese dried bonito shaver specially designed for slicing fresh katsuobushi or also called bonito flakes.
With this vintage looking Japan-made tool you can smoothly slice dried bonitos or skipjack tunas to make fresh katsuobushi which tastes and smells better.
Sprinkle the freshly made bonito flakes on top of rice, miso soup or tofu and you will feel the difference!
You need to identify the direction of bonito fillet: find its skin, which is blackish and rough in texture. One side of the tip adjacent with this skin is tail while the opposite side is called head.
Place the bonito shaver on a flat surface, then place the katsuobushi fillet with its head facing down on the surface while the tip of the tail pointing against the blade direction and the skin facing upward.
Push the katsuobushi down on the shaver. It should be held at a 40~45° angle to the blade. Slide the katsuobushi back and forth across the blade.
At the beginning, you can produce powdered bonito, but if you continue shaving it, you can shave flakes. Keep shaving it.
- Materials: Natural wood (body) / steel (blade)
- Weight: 780g
- Size: Approx. 240×100×97mm
- Made in Japan
- LLLaura L.Verified BuyerRated 5 out of 5 stars4/18/23Much better than buying bags of bonito flakes!
I love using this shaver, and the design makes it easy to store the dried bonito for future use.
- WMWalter M. G.Verified BuyerRated 3 out of 5 stars3/15/23Better than nothing
The shaving panel and the blade work well.
But the little bars, the panel is resting on are poor quality.
They are just fixed with two little nails.
In my case the shaving panel broke into the box while shaving. I glued the broken bar back into the box and did not have any problems since. If you don’t have any carpenter skills, this box will be risky to buy.
After my repair, the shaver does what it is supposed to do.
- AAlainVerified BuyerRated 4 out of 5 stars11/10/21Great tool
I bought it together with a piece of Honkarebushi Whole Japanese Katsuobushi Block (Bonito Belly), and I have it for breakfast with rice and soy sauce twice a week. The fresh dry bonito flakes makes all the difference, bringing the authentic Japanese taste right to your doorstep. I love it.
- MVMatteo V.Verified BuyerRated 3 out of 5 stars9/3/21I am sure it works, but I can't figure out how to make flakes
It's not easy to figure out if you haven't used it before or have someone to teach you.