Sakai Kikumori Nakagawa Hoshikage 150mm Petty Ginsanko Ebony

Hand forged by Nakagawa Hamono for Sakai Kikumori. Ginsanko steel, with an octagonal ebony handle and buffalo horn ferrule. They are impressively thin behind the edge due to an expertly convex hamaguri grind and will prove so in a smooth, effortless cutting feel.

Ginsanko is a fine grained, high carbon content (1% + carbon), low chromium (13%) stainless steel. It has the cutting and sharpening feel of a carbon steel but is less maintenance with regard to reactivity. These knives are ideal for the individual that is looking for a Japanese knife that’s easy to sharpen and also rust-resistant.

Satoshi Nakagawa trained for many years under Kenichi Shiraki, one of Sakai's great blacksmiths. When Shiraki-san retired, the workshop passed to Nakagawa-san and Shiraki Hamono became Nakagawa Hamono. He continues the craft he learned under Shiraki-san while forging in his own right as one of Sakai's leading smiths.

Nakagawa-san’s knives are characterized by excellent heat control during forging and a very thorough heat treatment. This creates knives that have superb edge formation and edge retention, with good toughness. Nakagawa-san's reputation is well earned as one of a few blacksmiths in Sakai to expertly forge Ginsanko, VG10, and STRIX stainless steels. Likewise, his carbon steels are easy to sharpen across most steel types.

Sakai Kikumori was started in 1926 and draws on Sakai’s 600 year history as the major center of traditional Japanese cutlery manufacturing. They work with a large variety of Sakai's best smiths, sharpeners and small factories to offer a wide variety of knives ranging from traditional to modern.