Traditional Japanese folding pocket knife from Kanekoma, with a brass handle and beautiful hand-forged 3" folded Hitachi Aogami Blue Steel blade.

Product description

No locking device, no corkscrew, not even tweezers…just one wickedly sharp and sturdy blade that folds into an attractive brass handle. Starts off shiny but soon mellows to a lovely rich patina.

Why Blue Steel? The addition of a little chromium to the mix increases the “kirenaga” of the blade, which is to say it will stay sharp for longer.

Comes in a nice soft card box, with a heavy duty leather belt sheath as an option. A great stocking filler.

Best usage

A general purpose pocket knife that’s easy to sharpen, easy to clean and great fun to use. For everything from opening letters and boxes to whittling.

• Quite a stiff action that loosens with time, and can be retightened with a sharp rap on the rivet with a hammer. • Try sharpening these with Shapton Whetstones - you’ll be amazed.
• The leather sheath is highly recommended to prevent the lever tip poking into you when you carry it in your pocket.

More about Niwaki higo knives

The Niwaki Higo knives are hand made by Kanekoma, 5th generation knife makers in Miki, down in Hyogo Prefecture. Founded in 1894, early knives were called higonokami because a lot of customers were from Kumamoto, an area previously known as Higo. In 1910 the name was registered, and only makers in the Miki region could use it, and Kanekoma are now the last of those makers.

In an industry known for hanging on to traditions, their factory is one the most traditional we’ve come across - which means small, dark and cluttered!