Hori Hori-The Japanese Garden Digging Knife | Now Available at RMBA

Many garden tasks require specialized tools, and the avid home gardener will have quite the collection. We need shovels to move large amounts of soil, rakes and hoes to maintain and cultivate garden beds, scissors for pruning, applicators for various dry and liquid amendments and treatments, and others. Elite gardeners around the world know the secret of the Hori Hori Japanese garden Knife.

What is a Hori Hori?

The Hori Hori garden knife has a straight, cupped blade, one plain edge, and one serrated. The tool gets its name from the onomatopoeia for the sound of digging in Japanese. It works great for common garden tasks like cutting sod, weeding, digging, and tilling small amounts of soil. If kept sharp, this Japanese style garden knife can be used for pruning shrubs and trees; some gardeners use a hori hori to make cuttings for grafting trees. A Hori Hori beats out a regular garden trowel when cutting trough roots, weed cloth, or opening bags of amendments.

Why Choose an RMBA Hori Hori?

At RMBA, we have selected a high-quality, Japanese made knife from one of the oldest manufacturers of modern hori hori, Nisaku. The blade is 7.25 inches of stainless steel riveted into a hardwood handle where the RMBA logo is engraved. Show your support while the knife sits in the durable, reinforced faux leather sheath. There is also a generous lanyard hole in the handle for those that prefer to hang their garden tools on a peg in the shed rather than their belt. Measurements in both inch and millimeter increments are engraved into the concave section of the blade, so you know exactly how deep you are digging. The stainless steel chosen for the blade is very resistant to rust, so the tool is easy to maintain. Just wipe the blade with a cloth before it gets put away, and make sure the wooden handle doesn't get too wet or too dry. I like to treat my tool handles with beeswax or a similar natural wax to preserve the wood.

How to Sharpen a Hori Hori

Hori Hori users know that this knife performs best when kept sharp! Since the edges are only beveled on one side, sharpening a hori hori is a bit different than other knives. Check out the diagram for visual learners. A Hori Hori can be sharpened with a whetstone, a diamond stone, or a file. It is important to note that the pull-through knife sharpeners for kitchen knives will not work to sharpen a hori hori. A small round file or diamond sharpening rod is required for the serrated edge.

When sharpening a Hori Hori, not much pressure is required. We will call the convex edge, where the bevels are, the front. We will call the concaved side where the measurement is engraved, the back. First, clean the back bevel by running the back side of the knife over that stone. Make sure both edges are in contact with the stone. Take a few passes to take out any nicks or rolls. Next, draw the whole straight edge bevel across the stone. Set the entire beveled section against the stone, so material gets pulled towards the edge. Repeat with the serrated side, then use the sharpening rod in the valleys of the serration. Keep sharpening the bevels until a slight burr or wire edge develops on the back side of the straight edge. Flip the Knife and remove the wire edge, just like the first pass. Lastly, use the sharpening rod to clean up the wire edge on the serrated bevel. It seems complicated, but once you give it a try, you will see that sharpening a Hori Hori is easy and quick. 

Stop by the RMBA web store and grab yours today! At RMBA, we pride ourselves in providing only the highest quality tools and inputs for your farm or garden, or as gifts for the avid gardener in your life. We are proud to be able to offer such a high quality tool like this Hori Hori to join our existing line of quality garden products. the Hori Hori is the gold standard for gardener's hand tools. Quantum Growth Organic Total is the gold standard for biological inoculants. Quantum products offer the only verified counts of live, vegetative bacteria on the market. Using Quantum, a grower can help plants reach their full genetic potential by supplying the first trophic level microorganisms that help stabilize and feed a healthy soil food web.