Craftsperson · Miki‑byen, Hyōgo-prefekturet

Nagao Kanekoma

Nagao Kanekoma has forged the Japanese folding knife higonokami since 1894 and is today the only workshop with the right to use the name. The knife is the same one Japanese schoolchildren sharpened pencils with for generations: a simple carbon steel blade, a brass handle, nothing extra.

See the knives

The story

Nagao Kanekoma Factory Co., Ltd. was founded in 1894 in Miki City, Hyōgo Prefecture, by Komataro Nagao, and has been run by the same family for five generations. Early on, this company took the initiative to establish the 'Higonokami Knife Union' (1899), and in 1910 they registered the Higonokami name as an official trademark, so that only craftsmen in this Miki guild have the right to call the knife Higonokami

Today Nagao Kanekoma is the only maker still producing genuine Higonokami folding knives, with Mitsuo Nagao as the current head. The knives are still forged by hand using the traditional warikomi or san-mai method, where a carbon steel core is wrapped in softer layers to combine sharpness with wear resistance and easy sharpening. The design is simple and practical: no locking mechanism, just friction and the distinctive small 'chikiri' lever that holds the blade in place and makes the Higonokami easy to open and use.

The knives are popular around the world, and the waiting time for Nagao Kanekoma knives averages around two years.

The region

Miki, Hyogo

Miki, in Hyōgo Prefecture, is one of Japan's historically important regions for tool and blade making. The city is known as 'Hardware Town' and has roots in forging going back to the 15th century, when the area first became known for making swords and farm tools. The craftspeople in Miki put weight on function, balance...