Nigara Anmon Kurozome Blue 2 Damascus Yanagiba 300mm

Nigara Anmon Kurozome Blue 2 Damascus Yanagiba 300mmKnives and Stones is proud to bring you Nigara Knife, a boutique knife house based in the beautiful north eastern prefecture of Aomori. With over 350 years of knife making history, and their remote location, Nigara has developed some incredibly unique forging techniques and designs. Their Damascus pattern is one of the most sophisticated patterns that I have seen from Japan makers, and it is called Anmon, which translate to "dark figure". According to

Knives and Stones is proud to bring you Nigara Knife, a boutique knife house based in the beautiful north eastern prefecture of Aomori. With over 350 years of knife making history, and their remote location, Nigara has developed some incredibly unique forging techniques and designs.

Their Damascus pattern is one of the most sophisticated patterns that I have seen from Japan makers, and it is called “Anmon”, which translate to "dark figure".

According to Nigara, “The “Anmon” design was inspired by the rippling water of the Anmon falls, found on the base of the World Heritage Shirakami Mountains. Dating back to the Edo Period over 350 years ago, this Nigara Forging technique with its numerous folds, result in the ripple marked blades that are sharp and extremely durable, resistant to rusting. With each one skillfully handcrafted, no two knives are the same.”

In terms of grind, their gyuto has a surprisingly thin edge. It is very eye opening to meet a maker that has their Gyuto super thin behind the edge, as most of the traditional makers tend to have their knives on the thicker side at first.

(Choil shot of a Nigara 240mm Gyuto)

We will gradually receive more stocks in the future and I will have more to say about them in my podcasts, but in the meantime, it is truly exciting to welcome another knife maker joins the K&S family!