The Hyomon(氷紋,"Ice Texture") line will sit pretty high on my Teir List of "Functional Art", forged by Nihei, the maker of the Shinkiro(蜃気楼,"Mirage") line, these knives are equally amazing in their performance, stunning in their appearance, and top notch finish to clearly articulate a look that matchs the poetic name.
The grind of these knives is a sabre grind combines with a convex bevel, which might be familiar to many knife enthusiasts as it is the secret formula behind the amazing cutting performance of the Yoshikane knives. This shouldn't be a suprise as Nihei San was an apprentice under Yoshikane Hamono before.
Ths steel at the core is a Hitachi White 2 carbon steel, a very pure and fine steel that allows an extremly fine edge. With the same steel and grind as Yoshikane White 2 line, these blades forged and sharpened by Nihei have and excellent food penetration, release and slicing performance. The thicker spine doesn't seems to hold it back when cutting, but add some weight and momentum to the cut. The only drawback might be the finish, the mirror polish does create some stickiness, so there will be a noticeable drag when the cut slows down, but I say it is a worthy trade off for the amazing look.
The finish, where shall I even start, that polish on the core steel is so fine and flawless to a point that I can easily count the hair in my eyebrow through the reflection. The Damascus isn't just a random pattern, there are clear diraction and good spacing between each stroke, its density reminds of the famous "Riverjump" from Tsukasa Hinoura, but instead of a Kurouchi finish, the background is a fine hazy silver, which too makes the silver lines pop out.
The intertwining lines forms shiny cracks on a frosty ice surface represented by the matt background, and they dissolve together into the highly polished edge that is perfectly reflective like still water. Like the Shinkiro, these are blade that can and meant to be "read" from spine to the edge. The thought goes into the design and the level of skill involved in the excution are both top notch, although the production is limited as Nihei San is working by himself, the creative freedom that he gain is priceless, I truely appreciate craftsmen like him who have the skill and dedication to work as a individual bladesmith.
These knives are priced at a higher price point, and just like ice, they are vulnerable, not to heat but to rust and discolouration. Still, I believe you will be paying a justified price for excellent craftsmanship, and the limited production does means these knives are more or less a collectors' item.
By
Hatsukokoro