When you see a Satoshi Nakagawa knife in the wild, you can immediately tell it is forged from someone with a tremendous amount of skill. That is because Nakagawa-san's teacher was none other than the famous Kenichi Shiraki of Shiraki Hamono.Of course every blacksmith must one day pass down the torch to enjoy their days in the mountainside, as opposed to the hot sooth covered factory. Nakagawa-san was that man whom the torch was handed too when Shiraki-san retired in 2020. Satoshi Nakagawa is not only capable of forging knives using a variety of steels, but can also create honyaki knives, which requires a tremendous amount of skill and discipline.

Here, Nakagawa's offering is one made of Silver 3, also known as ginsanko (gin-san-ko: silver-three-steel). It is a steel made by Hitachi Japan, specifically for tools and kitchen knives. Silver 3 is similar to VG10 with approximately the same percentage of carbon C0.95-1.10. However, knife enthusiasts tend to prefer it to VG10 because it feels sharper.

Blacksmith: Nakagawa San

Location: Sakai Japan

Construction: Hammer Forged, San Mai

Cladding: Soft Iron

Finish: Kasumi

Edge Steel: Ginsan

Edge Grind: Double Bevel Even 50/50

Handle: Rosewood

Ferrule: Ebony

Weight: 5.5oz / 156g

Blade Length: 171mm

Overall Length: 315mm

Spine Thickness at Heel: 2.9mm

Blade Height at Heel: 47