Hokiyama Nakiri AUS-10 Damascus 165mm (6.5") - BLADE

The Hokiyama Nakiri AUS-10 Damascus is a Japanese kitchen knife designed primarily for preparing vegetables. The nakiri with damascus pattern and tsuchime finish is a perfect balance of form and function.

This blade is available without a handle. This is your chance to make your own handle or order it separately, so you can put together a one-of-a-kind knife that is perfectly suited to your taste and needs.

BLADE SHAPE:
The nakiri shape was designed for cutting vegetables and is perfect for either long or short cuts, while the thin tip allows for precise work. Nakiri aka Nakiri Bocho is a traditional Japanese knife with a square, thin blade and a deep, flat belly. Since the entire flat edge of the knife touches the cutting board at once, in one clean, vertical movement, there is no need for a horizontal pull or push. This also means that you won’t be turning the vegetable into an “accordion” of pieces still clinging together by a thread. Due to its characteristics, it’s mostly intended to be used for chopping veg, but you can still use it as a good all-rounder in the kitchen.

HANDLE:
This knife is without a handle, so you can fit your own. Browse our selection of handles and create your own, custom-looking knife! If you would like that we fit the selected handle to the blade for you, select Handle fitting service when adding the blade to the cart.

STEEL:
The heart of this nakiri is made of Aichi's AUS-10 stainless steel, which was hardened to around 59-60 HRC. Due to its high content of Chromium (Cr), AUS-10 steel will resist corrosion very well.

LAMINATION:
The core layer consisting of the harder AUS-10 steel was sandwiched between two layers of softer steel. This technique is called san-mai and is used to protect the hard (but delicate) core from outside factors and physical impacts, which could lead to breakage.

GEOMETRY:
It has a double bevel (symmetrical) blade.

BLADE FINISH:
The knife features a beautiful combination of tsuchime and damascus pattern. The upper part of the blade features a hand chiseled kanji and hammer dents (or tsuchime), which then transform into an intricate damascus pattern that flows down to the cutting edge. 

BLACKSMITH:
Hokiyama Hamono is a leading smithy in Kochi Prefecture in Japan. They have recently celebrated their 100-year anniversary, founded in 1919. Hokiyama Hamono is known for their quality as they follow the tradition of hand-made blades that has been around for over 800 years. They retain the handiwork and traditional craftsmanship that is passed down from generation to generation while striving for the ever-new knowledge and innovation. Despite the fact that they make knives according to the traditional methods, they follow the modern technological guidelines in the field of metallurgy, material processing and innovations in production processes. Hokiyama, in their own words, is a fusion of tradition (土佐 一), innovation (無限) and practicality (左近).

Each knife in the workshop goes through about 50 different processes that are performed and controlled by experienced craftsmen. Among the various steps required to make a Hokiyama knife is a special process called Rolling-Forging. It enables the efficient and uniform production of knives while maintaining the properties and qualities of Japanese steel.