Nigara Hamono 300mm Sakimaru Yanagi Aogami 2 Honyaki Karin Burl Double Horn Handle

Hand made in Aomori prefecture, mizu  honyaki (water quenched) Aogami #2  yanagi with karin wood handle with buffalo horn spacers.

Nigara Hamono in Hirosaki City in Aomori Prefecture is a 350 year old metalworking company with swordmaking roots. Blacksmith Go Yoshizawa has expanded Nigara's range to include kitchen knives including the very demanding honyaki forging and differential heat treatment.  

Honyaki heat treatment relies on a single steel blade as opposed to a clad steel / mild steel or iron construction. Water quench honyaki makes for the hardest possible edge but due to the rapid heat loss during the quenching has a high failure rate even for experienced smiths. This knife has been etched to bring out an additional contrast at the hamon, the result is a very lively and vibrant pattern pulled from the steel. 

Aogami is rated at 2, 1 & Super increasing in carbon and alloy content as the number gets smaller, typically aogami 2 is tough with a shorter edge life than aogami 1 and aogami super has the best edge life with potentially the least toughness all though this is a generalization and greatly depends on the way the steel is forged. Honyaki aogami 2 will have longer edge life than a mass produced aogami super so this is a general view. When heat treated using the honyaki technique the result is a steel that cuts very well as it slowly dulls and works very well at very fine finishes. This is definitely a sharpener's steel, great for a huge variety of finishing stones, especially many natural stones. 

Not for the first time user of a yanagi, this knife will demand greater skill in sharpening and use to preserve the proper geometry and to avoid damage, in addition the etched surface will be removed with sharpening.