Higonokami Folding Knife – Blue Paper Steel 120mm

THIS IS WHAT IT'S ADVERTISED TO BE - A GENUINE NAGAO HIGONOKAMI. I've been selectively collecting knives for more than 20 years and I am part Japanese - Samurai Descent. My Higo arrived quickly (5 days to Hawai'i). It was near razor sharp and very nearly perfect. The brass saya has lite scratches, but as much as I'd like to have a hand in perfecting this piece esthetically, I actually like the character it already has. It's proof that my knife was hand forged and finished by the blacksmith, Motosuke Nagao. Suffice it to say. . . I LOVE THIS KNIFE AS IS! In addition to my personal review for this knife, I've decided to add the link of this website here to help others learn why this is such a unique piece. I'll carry my Higonokami for a few days only to "experience" it, then place it in a shadow box frame to be prominently displayed on my wall. History Of The Higonokami: https://www.japaneseknives.eu/c-2495966/information-on-higonokami/#:~:text=The%20higonokami%20knife%20was%20born,Miki%20region%20to%20manufacture%20it Edited from the Website: Motosuke Nagao is the only producer of all Higonokami. Due to the high demand for his knives, he struggles to keep up and out of necessity, finishing touches are minimal. As many may know, the Japanese are very minimalistic - Less Is More. A knife is essentially a BLADE, so the handle is not normally prettied up. It is almost impossible to find one that is perfect and there's often imperfections like scratches on the blade, levers that don’t sit well on the saya, grinds that aren’t symmetrical, file marks, scratched brass and so on… The finish is not perfectly finished, the back of the blade may feel rough and may make the knife unpleasant to grip, but the quality of steel this knife wields alone is nearly unequalled and is worth it's humble price tag. Imagine being the only person producing a product line of hand forged knives to literally the whole world and you may understand why almost no one receives a perfect Higonokami. Now imagine requesting a hand forged custom blade from a well known American knife maker. . . this adds better perspective of just how reasonable Nagao-san's asking price is. Because they are lite duty tools and are so inexpensive (9€ in Japan), it is up to their new owners to add final touches; such as smoothing with sand paper, polishing paste or various Dremel tool bits, filing / grinding out sharp angles and fixing other imperfections if needed, in order to make the knife smoother and more pleasant to the touch. Remember this is a high temperature hand forged high carbon steel and because of this, extreme care is vital. This is a high maintenance piece with limited applications, but Aogami is an incredible knife steel. If used appropriately for specific tasks, it has nearly no equal. This blade is meant for slicing - definitely not for any sort of prying or the cutting of harder things like bone, thick branches or thick rope. Use the Higonokami reasonably and it can last you a lifetime. IMO, suggested uses: meats of a meal, opening boxes / letters, cutting thin cord, pruning green tree branches, etc. The brass saya shines like solid gold when new and has almost a sophisticated appearance, but it goes through a metamorphosis and takes on a patina, giving it more character for a while. This beauty doesn’t last though; it is as ephemeral as the blossoming of the Sakura flowers on Mount Fuji. After a few days, the brass tarnishes / dulls even more. Using a bit of Tsubaki Oil periodically, can postpone this effect. If the brass saya becomes too tarnished for your liking, a polishing paste like Brasso or a Dremel polishing wheel with rouge can easily restore the original shiny gold appearance.

Love the history of these knives. Even though they are crude by modern pocket knife standards they are apparently hand forged. You can see the darkened metal on the top of the blade from the forging process. This is the blue steel version which apparently is named from the paper it comes in. It differs from the white paper steel in that they add chromium and tungsten to harden the blade. Also it is forged with the hard steel sandwiched between to pieces of softer but tougher steel and then they are forge welded together. You can see the layers from the top of the blade. This gives the blade high edge retention because that will be the hard steel, but also makes the blade tougher due to the outer tougher steel layers. These are old school hand have been made this way since the late 1800's. When the Samurai class was eliminated blade makers had to find another way to make money and that's how these got started. So they are very simply put together. Don't expect excellent blade centering or high end machining. They are also not stainless so expect to have to do some simple maintenance such as oiling the blade.

It's definitely a true Higonokami, made by the Nageo family of Japan. Is it as sturdy as a lot of folding knives? No, it's not. It is what it is, a basic peasant utility knife made as low cost as possible without cutting corners. The blade itself is pretty impressive, made from an aogami steel core forge welded between two plates of iron, and tempered to hold a good edge. I was somewhat disappointed that it wasn't very sharp, but I suppose concessions must be made to keep the cost low. The blade takes an amazing edge and will now shave hair. It was also rather stiff to open at first, but that's mostly due to the fire scale left on the tang. it opens a lot easier after working with it for a while. Overall I'm happy I got it.

Fun and handy friction folder for EDC. It's lightweight, slim, and so easy to just slip in your pocket to await the everyday cutting tasks that come up. It's also a great conversation starter as it's the real deal, Japanese made hegonokami with the kanji etched into the San Mai carbon steel blade. It comes dry, so make sure to oil it up to prevent rust. Mine came perfectly centered and razor sharp. Retention is great and it will not open up unless you intentionally open it.

Beautiful knife and piece of history. Appears to be genuine. Razor sharp, not too stiff to open and close one handed, yet sturdy enough to use without worrying about it closing on your hand. There are some “imperfections” as expected with a handmade product, but personally I think they add to the value of owning a one-of-a-kind piece. Any collector would love to have this knife, makes for an amazing gift or purchase for any collection.