7 Pocket Knife by Nagao Seisakusho, Parkerized Black Satin Finish

I've been looking at a higonokami for a long time, and finally decided to pull the trigger and buy one. I wasn't sure if it would have a place in my daily routine, or if it would end up as just more clutter in my collection of knives. I'm quite glad that I did so, because this little blade is really nice. First, realize that a higo is a friction folder. There is no safe locking mechanism on the blade. Right now the bent brass scales are tight enough to keep the blade secure when the knife is folded up, but I don't have much confidence that this will continue to be the case over time. That being said, I am not carrying this knife in my pocket or in the bottom of a bag where an accidental opening could be catastrophic. I have read that these types of knives were traditionally used by school children in Japan to sharpen pencils. That is a job that this knife is more than capable of. The blade comes extremely sharp, and the back of it is quite thick and sturdy. The tanto-esque point is also quite sturdy. The knife is quite obviously hand made, and made well at that. For the money, this is one of the top "peasant" knives that one could buy. Compared to my Opinel no 8, the higonokami has a shorter blade, but the blade is much thicker and stronger. The higo could be used to pry things that would bend the blade of the Opinel over on itself. The only downside to the knife is that it has no locking mechanism. The Opinel at least has the ring lock that makes it somewhat safe to use, but the higo is just a sharp blade on a hinge. That might limit its usefulness (unless you don't mind losing the occasional finger), but it still doesn't prevent me from giving this knife five stars. Treat it with the same respect that you would a straight razor, but abuse it like you would any peasant knife. It is an all around fun blade, and I'm glad to have it in my collection. If for no other reason than the look on people's faces when I pull it out to sharpen my pencils in public. A higonokami is by far the best pencil sharpener for the money ever made.

Really nice knife with character for the price. I've attached some pics on a ruled mat for scale (the lines are inches), and I tried to capture some details. Mine came in the yellow gift box as pictured (order fulfilled by Amazon on Jan 11, 2016). The blade is obviously hand made. It's thick and substantial, and rough and blackened on the back. Blade came heavily oiled, and I plan on keeping it clean and oiled, since this style of carbon steel will rust. It came respectably sharp, but not razor sharp; it seems relatively easy to sharpen (sharpened using one of those new fangled diamond stones). The edge has a slight (barely perceptible) wave to it, but it's perfectly smooth (whoever sharpened it did a careful job). The brass handle rivet provides ample resistance, but I've heard that it loosens over time, which I will address when it happens using a hammer. I got the black handle, which appears to be brass with a nickel plating, and some kind of oxidation treatment or something to blacken the outside of the nickel plating. I expect the black will rub down to silvery nickel in places, which will add to the character IMHO. When you close it, if you push it all the way in the blade edge WILL hit the back of the case. So, when you close this knife, you HAVE to do it with care, or you will chip the blade edge. Thoughtful care and mantainence is a necessity with this knife, all around, or you will quickly end up with a rusty jagged piece of junk. Treat it gently, wipe after using, rub it regularly with mineral oil, and hammer the rivet when it gets loose, and you'll have a very nice and unique tool for years to come. I plan on carrying this in my pocket for random everyday tasks. Also, I occasionally carve violin bridges, and this might be useful for some parts of that task. It's made to be an easy-to-carry tool for general light tasks and crafts. If you want something convenient with no mantainence that you use to pry and hack and saw at stuff, buy something else. UPDATE: I've had this for a while, now, carry it in my backpack every day. Still in great shape. Keeping it sharp is not a problem. Super useful little tool. And, it's held up and kept in good shape way better than I had originally anticipated.

A special and cool knife that feels like a piece of history. Comes with a sharp edge and the blade feels like high quality metals. Keep in mind that this is not the most ergonomic or comfortable knife to hold, and you can’t open it with one hand as the hinge is pretty stiff (although it’s what keeps the knife from closing, so pros and cons). Great for box cutting and maybe a little wood working, does not lock.

The Japanese written on the knife is the trademark, maybe real, maybe not. This is just a great, traditional, novelty knife. It's very usable. It is a two-hand opener unless you have smaller, nimble, strong hands :) Mine came razor sharp! I put this on my "Unique" knife shelf :)

I was a little skeptical buying this blade for $14. Being a bladesmith, I typically know what kind of quality is put into knives priced this cheap. However, this knife is completely and utterly an exception. The knife arrived beautifully packaged. I did not think it would be sharp out of the box, but yet again, I was wrong. This knife was paper shaving, hair shaving sharp right out of the box. The finish of the blade and the handle is very, VERY impressive. I am going to buy more of these for gifts. For the price and the quality of this knife, you'd be a fool not to purchase it. Keep it oiled, it's carbon steel, not stainless. Also looking forward to buying the smaller, the bigger, and the way bigger version of this knife. This one is the perfect size for my day job. It's thin and sits in my dress pants pocket well. I'm sure it will perform most admirably in the blacksmith shop, shaving wood for kindling to start my forge, trimming handles to fit axe heads, etc. Legitimately the best knife purchase I've ever made for a knife under $60.

Really, it's not as sharp as people say it is, so you're having to saw whatever you're cutting a lot of time which leads to the biggest issue: the grip. Being that there's no padding or anything just straight metal, it cuts into your hand when gripping it. I use it for tape and envelopes but using it on anything thick as cardboard is a no-no, the knife struggles. It also doesn't help it's not exactly the easiest knife to get open at the start. You really have to use it enough to get it to open up easier but by the time you can open it one handed the blade would be dull!

I love this pocket knife. It’s sharp and compact and ideal for many jobs.

I love this thing. As others have mentioned here, it's handmade and so there will be noticeable imperfections with each one, but that just gives it more character imo. The blade is quite offcentered on mine - so much so that it almost makes contact with the interior of the handle when it's closed. And you'll need to sharpen it when it arrives (which is generally the case with traditional Japanese knives), but once you do it gets REALLY sharp. I own quite a few knives and I can honestly say none of them get any sharper than this little slicer. I have no problem with the lack of a locking mechanism as my thumb naturally lands on the tang and keeps it open when I'm using it. Be sure to keep it clean and oil it regularly (I use mineral oil to keep the blade food-safe) as carbon steel is quite prone to rust, but with a little maintenance yours should last a lifetime. I'm so smitten with this knife that I've subsequently ordered the fancier brass-handled version with a blue paper steel (Aogami) blade, and I'm already shopping around for the high end white paper steel (Shirogami) version. These things are addictive!