Does anybody know what I bought???

Interesting

-- https://www.artisticwoodstudio.com/videos

It’s a cuttlefish bone, but I don’t know why you’d sharpen it. Or are you grating it, either for food or medicinal purposes?

-- "A man may conduct himself well in both adversity and good fortune, but if you want to test his character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln

JJohnston,
Really really good guess. And very close. But it’s not a cuttlefish bone. Yes, it’s for food.

-- Junji Sugita from Japan, http://tetra.blog12.fc2.com/

Well, I’m going to take a shot at this. Is it a mandolin?

Is that squid?

-- San Diego, CA

It’s for shaving dried bonito. Among other things, bonito shavings are used to make dashi, a basic stock used throughout Japanese cooking.

-- Derek, Bremerton WA --

My first glance at first pix said tissue dispenser.

—Peter

It is obviously used in food preparation and I assume for a highly valued ingredient, but I haven’t a clue what that could be. My guess is something used as a spice.

-- Mike, an American living in Norway.

It appears to be a wonderful tool for cutting very thin slices from most any food product. Imagine paper thin slices of ginger root or garlic, whisps of raw tuna or other solid meat fish, long slender bands of cucumber or eggplant. Yes, a veritable asian Mandolin.

-- I love the smell of sawdust in the morning....

peeler for vegetables

-- david - only thru kindness can this world be whole . If we don't succeed we run the risk of failure. Dan Quayle

I was also going to guess that it’s for making bonito flakes. I bet fresh shavings are so much tastier than what you buy….

What Derek said. Just saw this on Alton Brown’s show “Good Eats”

-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the Universe's finest custom rolling pins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuobushi

-- The difference between being defeated and admitting defeat is what makes all the difference in the world - Upton Sinclair, "The Jungle"

Another variation or the revered Banjo used for cooking in the western world.

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Greetings all:...... A couple of guys guessed mandolin, and one said banjo. Sounds like we got the start of some good ‘ole bluegrass music…. all we need now is a bass and guitar, with a little fiddle and dobro thrown in, and man oh man, we’d be cuttin’ grass in nothing flat….......... lol lol. Other than that, I ain’t got a clue as to what that instrument is, or how you’d use it….. and for what…... grub?........keep on keeping on, Junji.

-- " There's a better way.....find it"...... Thomas Edison.