This Blue 1 commissioned by Hatsukokoro and forged by Satoshi Nakagawa is a line that focus on the artistic value and fine craftsmanship of the art of forging. Each of the blade would start with a piece of damascus cladding placed on top of a Hitachi Blue 1 high carbon steel, heated and forgewelded together then drawn out into a long billet under hamer in Master Nakagawa's hand. When you pick them up, the beauty of these blades will speak for themselves through details.
Satoshi Nakagawa, trained as apprentice of the legendary bladesmith Kenichi Shiraki for over 20 years, have excelled his skill in forging of traditional Japanese profile blades as well as all other kinds of edged items. The finish on this Blue 1 line is undoubtedly superb: from the organic cladding line that flows under the silky smooth Kasumi finish to the sharply defined Shinogi line and evenly polished Hira above it, there really aren't much to say about the refinement level of this line other than "WOW, this is beautiful".
On top of this exceedingly high level of craftsmanship, there is a uncompromised performance to match it. The high carbon level of the Blue 1 steel(up to 1.35%) ensure a high possible hardness. With all the Mizu-Honyaki by Nakagawa in our store the training he get from Master Shiraki, we believe he can bring the full potential out of this steel in heat treating.
Combining the excellent artistic look and performance through remarkable skill, this line produced by Satoshi Nakagawa is a fitting choice for a higher end Yanagiba buyer who is not considering Honyaki. At a sub-1k range, there aren't much knives can compete with this line.
By
Satoshi Nakagawa