While there are many famous knifesmiths around Japan, one of the most well known right now is Nakagawa Satoshi (中川 悟志). The lone disciple of Master Shiraki Kenichi, he has expanded into his own Nakagawa Hamono brand in 2021. We are honored to have many of his knives on display, and be his exclusive supplier in Osaka City.
We are also one of just two places in the world that takes Nakagawa-san's famous reverse-clover mizu-yaki custom orders, of which he only makes thirty a year!
Thanks to the generosity of Nakagawa-san, we are very lucky to have a semi-permanent, ever changing exhibition dedicated to Sakai's youngest traditional craftsman on ICHITOI, our second floor event space at Sakai Ichimonji Mitsuhide. This exhibition is free to access.
Table of Contents
Exhibition Contents
This exhibition changes over time, but currently has.
Mizuyaki Artifacts
Mizuyaki is a hard technique to do, and Nakagawa-san is one of just a handful of smiths that can do it in the current era. However, even from masters the failure rate is still high. You can see some of the cracked mizuyaki Nakagawa-san has made, which are still works of art in themselves. Patterns are visible, and these allow you to envision what Nakagawa-san may have been thinking as he made these knives.
Creation of an Edo-Usuba
See 9 different pieces of steel, slowly changing from unformed metal into an Edo-Usuba.
Tools
Some of the tools Nakagawa-san uses in forging are on location here, including a stamp used to indicate a knife is a mizuyaki one, belt sharpeners, and occasionally other tools and materials like charcoal, a belt hammer, and other items of his own invention.*
*Some of these items may not always be on display.
Masterpiece Maguro-Bōchō/Tuna Knife
Located in the front of our store, this knife was forged by Nakagawa-san (with help from sharpeners and handlesmiths) to celabrate his independance and formation of Nakagawa Hamono. This is on permanent loan in the front of our store.
Nakagawa Forged Knives
Some of his rarer knives are available in this exhibition for sale, such as forge welded Super Gold 2 and Super Gold STRIX (SPG STRIX) knives, complete with Made by Nakagawa (中川作) stamped on the back. These are knives collectors and enthusiasts dream of!
Staff members are always available to talk more about this famous artisan, as well as showcase some of his other works available in our store.
Why We're Doing It
Knifesmithing has a similar problem that many traditional crafts are facing - a loss of manpower, knowledge, and skill.
Many of Sakai's most famous smiths have been creating knives for decades, but not all of them may have the ability to have apprentices. As a result, their knowledge risks being lost under the threat of cultural consumption.
We hope that by showcasing the works of Nakagawa-san, Sakai's youngest recognised traditional craftsman, that we can inspire others to enter traditional crafts and carve out a path of their own.
We want to protect, preserve, and educate the culture of Sakai Uchihamono and Sakai-based knifesmithing for the next 100 years. We can only do this by bringing in more apprentices into this wonderful world. We feel that by showing that other younger people can do it, that they can be inspired to do it too.
Dates and Prices
This exhibition is available every day that ICHITOI does not have an event, but some items are available to see every day.
This exhibition is free to enter, with no ticket or reservation system. simply visit us and enjoy what we have to offer!