Serrated Japanese Sickle with Hexagonal Handle

A carbon steel bladed medium sized harvesting sickle fitted to a hexagonal poplar wood handle for a better and more comfortable grip. From Asano Mokkousho, of Tsubame-Sanjo, Niigata Prefecture Japan. With a fairly short, fine but very sharply serrated blade these could reasonably be considered a lightweight hybrid of pruning saw and classic smooth bladed sickles. Typically used for gathering rice whose coarse stems it severs with ease these are useful in the garden as a vegetable harvesting tool, for trimming this years still green woody growth, or perhaps more aggressively for cutting back fibrous annoyances such as nettles and thistles should one face such misfortune. Being carbon steel these can rust if left wet or stored damp, and are best lightly oiled if left for extended periods. With a blade of about 17cm.