Pocket knife (Higonokami) • 70 mm • White #2 • Colored rope handle • for left and right-handed use

Features of the Higonokami Bannou

The Higonokami Bannou is a small pocket knife. Completely hand-forged by Motosuke Nagao, 4th generation. The knife is completely forged from 1 piece of steel and the handle flows seamlessly into the blade. Note: always store the knife clean and dry in the saya.

The saya is made of chirimen, a traditional Japanese fabric, which is woven in a special way. This gives the saya fine wrinkles on the surface and thus a smooth and pleasant texture. At the end of the handle there is a brass bell.

White steel, also known as: Shirogami/White paper/Shiroko steel

This traditional steel is not named after its colour, but named after the colour of its paper wrapping, in which it is stored in the Hitachi steel factory in Japan. There are 3 grades of Shirogami white steel: #1,#2 & #3. From these 3, #1 contains the highest amount of carbon and #3 the lowest. Generally we say at our knifeshop, grade #1 can be made extremely sharp, but will be a little more fragile as #3. While #3 is a little softer, also easier to resharpen, but has less edge retention. Grade #1 & #2 is most common in white steels. White steel is a refined steel with a low percentage of iron, loved by many, as it is relatively easy to maintain. In practice it can be maintained with a whetstone and in a short amount of time it will become very sharp. This does not mean that these knives never have to be resharpened by a professional, even all knives in Japan need to be refurbished at a certain moment. This Shirogami steel is embraced by sushi chefs who demand extreme sharpness of their knives. White steel oxidates relatively quick and therefore needs to be maintained more often, but on the other hand you will get all benefits of this beautiful steel characteristics.

Elwin de Veld about Higonokami

''Higo no kami'' in Japanese means ''Lord of Higo''. Higo is the former name of the region where the knife originally came from, but "Higo no kami" is also an aristocratic title for a powerful samurai. Today all original Higonokami knives are made in Miki.

Forged entirely by hand by master Motosuke Nagao, who is now 4th generation of his family business. Nagao san family is linked to the origins of the first Higonokami knife. The hignokami has a double bevel and it's core is made of Shirogami White # 2. 

Please note, the knife is completely handmade, so the dimensions and appearance may vary slightly.