Black-forged naginata-bocho.
Shirogami white#1 steel. Japanese cherry handle.
Hand-forged on Tanegashima Island.

'Naginata' usually refers to the long pole weapon - do a search on wikipedia and you'll see a similarity in the shape of the blades.

The naginata knife is first and foremost a tool for fishmongers and fish processors, for breaking down and filleting large fish. The rounded foreblade is very convenient for slicing from head to tail down the spine. Take a minute to check out the video we have of this knife in action - 'Product videos' tab above - and you'll see exactly what we mean. 

We're pretty sure the Ikenami Hamono Toku-Dai ("special big") 210mm Naginata is the knife featured in that video; it's a substantial knife that will handle almost any size fish, with a thinnish blade that is almost delicate in weight given its size. If you are often faced with the task of filleting fairly large fish either at home or in the commercial kitchen then this knife (with that delightful curved foreblade and more weight forward) makes a great alternative to a sashimi knife of similar length.