I absolutely LOVE this Hori Hori gardening tool. I have dozens of garden plants and weeds in plant beds never end in Florida. And I am always in the garden as it's my hobby. The discovery of this tool has easily cut my weeding time in half as it makes much lighter work of pushing mulch aside and pulling out weeds. It just cuts through the deep thick rooted weeds and also lifts out the whole root of shallow weeds. Actually I hadn't even purchased this for weeding originally. I got it because I needed to cut through and remove grass to build and create plant beds and I could not afford a sod lifter at the time and was tired of blisters from trying to do it with clippers. And for me I can say this turned out to be a great way to cut that grass out. It's also fantastic for cutting down grass that creeps up to the edge of plant beds and across the brick plant border, since I also don't have a weed whacker to get up to the edge. I did a lot of research on the Hori Hori too which comes from Japan and was originally made I believe to cut through Bonsai. In the end I chose to go with this particular brand because it has Japanese writing on the wood handle and also says "Made in Japan' directly on the blade itself. This gives me confidence that I have a genuine authentic Japanese Hori Hori knife. Later in the year I also plan to use it to separate some overgrown potted plants that could be made in to two plants. I only wish I had discovered this tool sooner. Ad I want to thank Nikasu for making this available.

LOVE these knives! Where I live, we have the mother of all weeds, especially Canadian thistle, which has roots to the other side of the world! These knives work great (bought 2, then someone lost one, then bought one more). It is a gardener's dream - just stab the earth close to the stem of the weed, going straight down (not at an angle), then with a bit of writs motion, give it a good half twist, and out comes the weed, roots and all. Of course, it is easier when the soil is damp, but even in dry soil, it works great. Personally, I find it a fantastic alternative to undesirable weed-killers. The blade is strong, and will not rust, not even if you forget it in the element for a while.

The wife accidently lost our first one. Immediately replaced with the same brand because it is very well made and the blade is sharp. This is an indispensable gardening tool. Highly recommend for all gardening duties. Nisaku brand are very well made and their blades are sharp. They deserves higher than a 5 star rating. Note: I prefer the stainless steel version over the black carbon steel version because of rust resistance, however the black blade version is slightly sharper and easier to re-sharpen. We own both versions, but I usually reach for stainless one.

This is my new favorite garden tool. It is incredibly versatile for digging, cutting, transplanting, and weeding. It is incredibly sharp, and my finger has recently finished healing from an unfortunate interaction with the blade. Wear gloves kids! I would only change the grip on the handle. It would be nice if their were finger grooves or a curve, but I can modify it with some Sugru putty. This is going to be a go-to gift in my book.

If you are trying to find a hori hori knife that gives these combination of quality and service, I was in your shoes just last week. Having a difficult time deciding, I purchased this knife along with a similar knife costing $6.50 less from Bonsai Outlet, also through Amazon. This, Nisaku knife, is on the left in the pictures below.
While the two knives share a nearly identical design, the Nisaku knife is clearly of a higher quality. From the grind and polish of the blade to the wood handle and even the pins, the Nisaku outshines the Bonsai knife. The Nisaku blade proudly states its origin as "Made in Japan", where the Bonsai leaves unsaid its birth in a country that provides cheap but inferior steel. The Bonsai blade has significant pitting, cleaned up in the finishing process but still evident, and easily enough to make one question how this one will hold up in service. If you love high-quality tools, choose this Nisaku knife with confidence. It has my unqualified recommendation.