Higonokami types...

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lonestar1979

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Mar 2, 2014
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I see different Higonokamis,some with markings on blade,some without,some in laminated sk5,some plain sk5,or some blue or white paper steel or even vg10 laminate.I got one that is probably sk5,and have other on order,excellent quality for price.Which ones are best,whats a difference between plain or san mai sk5,i dont get it....the version that i have holds edge well,splits hairs easily.Does anyone have blue or white sandwiched versions and are they worth money at all?
 
lonestar1979 said:
I see different Higonokamis,some with markings on blade,some without,some in laminated sk5,some plain sk5,or some blue or white paper steel or even vg10 laminate.I got one that is probably sk5,and have other on order,excellent quality for price.Which ones are best,whats a difference between plain or san mai sk5,i dont get it....the version that i have holds edge well,splits hairs easily.Does anyone have blue or white sandwiched versions and are they worth money at all?
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Higonokamis are a general purpose friction folder. As you say they are offered in various steels. My wife uses an SK5 Kanekoma. I use an Aogami (blue paper) Kanekoma. I also have
a Ichiro Hattori Damascus Higonoikami with a powder steel Cowry-X core at HRC 64. The Carbon steels all sharpen very easily and I'd rate the Aogami above the SK5 in edge retention.

All traditional Higonokamis that I am aware of use a Warikomi (割込み) blade. Except for my Damascus one is San Mai. I have yet to see a Monosteel traditional Higo.
The Warikomi process is shown here:
Kanekoma is the only remaining original maker registered to actually use the "Higonokami" 肥後の守 name. There are a few other brands also out of Miki Ciyu (where Higos started) of similar quaklity as well. Additionally sefveral well known Knife Makers in Japan are now adding Higos to their lineup. These cost more than the Kanekoma et al Higos.
A few Knife makers in Japan are now making friction folders that are essentially a modernized Higo.

The original Higos in general are not expensive so you can collect various ones, even based on the steel if you like.
Kanekoma
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Hattori Cowry-X Damascus
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Takeshi Saji - VG10 core Damascus
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Toun Ihara - Modern
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I have SK5 and Blue Paper - both seem to be fine carbon steels. Would consider a VG-10 or a "Shirogami White no. 2 ", does anyone know what this is? The Higo knives in this steel are the most expensive of them all, I know they label steels according to the paper, "blue, white, gold", in Japan, and the white is considered a very fine, pure carbon steel. Does anyone know a steel similarly composed to Shirogami no. 2 ?

I wonder how it compares to a CPM tool steel, cutting. Just for fun purposes.
 
Hashishiin said:
I have SK5 and Blue Paper - both seem to be fine carbon steels. Would consider a VG-10 or a "Shirogami White no. 2 ", does anyone know what this is? The Higo knives in this steel are the most expensive of them all, I know they label steels according to the paper, "blue, white, gold", in Japan, and the white is considered a very fine, pure carbon steel. Does anyone know a steel similarly composed to Shirogami no. 2 ?

I wonder how it compares to a CPM tool steel, cutting. Just for fun purposes.
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Shirogami No.2 (White Paper No.2) is the "purest" carbon steel and considered to get the sharpest. But my Shiro No.2 yanagiba and Deba (Masamoto) rusts just by looking at it.
My Aogami No.2 (Blue Paper No.2) is more rust resistant (slightly) because of the added Cromium amd Tungsten. Shirogami is also very hard and can be more chippy than Aogami.
But, it is the most highly prefered steel by traditional Japanese chefs.
Not sure if there is a US equivalent but Shirogami No2 has a 1.0-1.2% Carbon content.

Its actually. White, Blue. amd Yellow paper. With the last being found only on lower end knives. These carbon steels are made by the Yasugi Steel Works Plant, owned by Hitachi Metals. The location of the Yasugi plant in Shimane Prefectire (state) is an area where steel has been made for hundreds of years using iron from sand.

My presonal Yasugi carbon steel favorite is Aogami Super, the best of the Blue paper series.
 
KenHash said:
Shirogami No.2 (White Paper No.2) is the "purest" carbon steel and considered to get the sharpest. But my Shiro No.2 yanagiba and Deba (Masamoto) rusts just by looking at it.
My Aogami No.2 (Blue Paper No.2) is more rust resistant (slightly) because of the added Cromium amd Tungsten. Shirogami is also very hard and can be more chippy than Aogami.
But, it is the most highly prefered steel by traditional Japanese chefs.
Not sure if there is a US equivalent but Shirogami No2 has a 1.0-1.2% Carbon content.

Its actually. White, Blue. amd Yellow paper. With the last being found only on lower end knives. These carbon steels are made by the Yasugi Steel Works Plant, owned by Hitachi Metals. The location of the Yasugi plant in Shimane Prefectire (state) is an area where steel has been made for hundreds of years using iron from sand.

My presonal Yasugi carbon steel favorite is Aogami Super, the best of the Blue paper series.
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I can conccur to that. My "white steel" (Shirogami) knives are absolute favorites in the kitchen. The "blue steel" knives (Aogami) are liked just as well but I see no real advantage over the white paper stuff. And to be honest, I am also delighted with a Japanese AUS8 slicer.... Out I go.
 
K KenHash Thanks for your rundown! Very helpful.
herisson said:
I can conccur to that. My "white steel" (Shirogami) knives are absolute favorites in the kitchen. The "blue steel" knives (Aogami) are liked just as well but I see no real advantage over the white paper stuff. And to be honest, I am also delighted with a Japanese AUS8 slicer.... Out I go.
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I've never scoffed at some good AUS-8. I like it!
 
Does anyone know what is their laminated sk5 laminated with?I see some are plain sk5,some lam sk5,others laminated blue or white paper steel.Have the one with blue paper laminate on order too.
 
scdub said:
White and blue paper steels are awesome. I love white paper in the kitchen or straight razors and blue for wood carving. They can both hold extremely thin edges and therefore get sharper than anything else in my collection.
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Are you talking about using the actual Higonokami as a razor (and in the kitchen?), or just the steel in a razor blade/kitchen knife? Either way, it is good to know the steel holds such an acute edge so well - seems like the Higo would be the perfect knife to try thinning the edge on for me.

I am thinking about getting a Japanese knife set, and have decided ZDP may be a little pricy and difficult to maintain for me, and I want to get a cladded carbon knife, so most likely some Blue, Super Blue, Super Gold or Nitro-V... Glad to get some cladded carbon steel for the kitchen, as I recently got a couple of Ontario Old Hickory kitchen knives made with carbon, and it was not initially understood what they were... they were washed, not dried as they should be, promptly rusted, after I had touched up the edge, lol. Luckily just the light-version of BKF and some scrubbers to get the rust off. But as I was getting the rust off and washing/drying it, more was forming immediately, it was crazy! Talk about "rust when you look at it"... I will be giving them an apple cider vinegar patina tomorrow to help prevent against this sort of thing.
 
There is also a Japanese stainless steel called "silver" or Ginsan-ko. Great stuff. I have only one knife with said steel but it ages beautifully (understand : absolutely spot less) and cuts like the dickens (I gave it a few passes on a 12000 grit stone once, just to refine the edge). If there is a knife that appeals to you and it is made of said Ginsan-ko, don't hold back.
 
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herisson said:
There is also a Japanese stainless steel called "silver" or Ginsan-ko. Great stuff. I have only one knife with said steel but it ages beautifully (understand : absolutely spot less) and cuts like the dickens (I gave it a few passes on a 12000 grit stone once, just to refine the edge). If there is a knife that appeals to you and it is made of said Ginsan-ko, don't hold back.
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Ginsan-ko is a Hitachi product like the white and blue paper steels. Simply put, its like shirogami (white paper) with a high chromium content for stain resistance.
 
yeah, but look at the breakdown - ginsan-ko is pretty much a plain 10cr14 type steel, without even vanadium...

for these higo's I think it's important not to have stainless, (at least for myself)
imho
best budget carbon steel - 80crv2
best toughness carbon steel - cpm-3v

either of those would be my top 2 pics for a higo

(outside of them, if you wanted to stick to traditional paper steels, I'm a fan of superblue ... but its not nearly as tough as the 2 listed above, so edge retention is pretty great as long as its not chipping)
 
I don't know much about Higos, but have bought a bit of Duluth's "Best Made" line.

This is the larger Higo they offered... (*"larger" being relative)







I believe this ^^^ is #2 steel. 🤷‍♂️
 
Alone said:
I don't know much about Higos, but have bought a bit of Duluth's "Best Made" line.

This is the larger Higo they offered... (*"larger" being relative)







I believe this ^^^ is #2 steel. 🤷‍♂️
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Anything stamped on the blade?
 
Hashishiin said:
Are you talking about using the actual Higonokami as a razor (and in the kitchen?), or just the steel in a razor blade/kitchen knife?
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No just the steels.

My straight razor and fish/meat knife are single bevel in white paper steel, and I’ve purchased a couple of utility knives from Shosui Takeda in Aogami super blue (my son claimed the wood handled one as a Christmas gift so I don’t technically “own” it now).

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Wow scdub scdub , those are some really stunning-looking pieces looking finely-tuned! Definitely an inspiration to get into some real Japanese cutlery.
 
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