Hatsukokuro Nakagawa 270mm Yanagi Ginsanko Ebony Black Buffalo Horn Handle

Nakagawa-san's knives are characterized by superb edge formation and edge life with good toughness. This is due to excellent heat control during forging and a very thorough heat treatment. His carbon steels are easy to sharpen across most steel types. Nakagawa-san is one of only a few blacksmiths in Sakai to forge Ginsanko and VG10 stainless steels. His ginsanko is one of the best we have used and sharpened, with superb edge life, toughness and edge formation.

The sharpener on this series is credited as Kawakita Hamono operated by Kazumi Kawakita. Kawaita-san is a famed master sharpener who lists many notable and well-respected Sakai sharpeners as former students. Notably Morihiro who pioneered putting traditional Sakai wide bevels on double bevel wa-hochos. He was the sole sharpener of the Konosuke Fujiyama line (until 2018) and also works on the Sakai Kikumori Choyo series as well as a credited grinder for Nakagawa and other projects from Sakai.

Do not leave wet. Hand wash & dry, no dishwasher. Hardwood-end grain or softwood long grain cutting boards are preferred; avoid bamboo and plastic cutting boards.