A is a type of folding

pocket knife A pocketknife is a knife with one or more blades that fold into the handle. They are also known as jackknives (jack-knife), folding knives, or may be referred to as a penknife, though a penknife may also be a specific kind of pocketknife. A typ ...

originating in

Miki Miki may refer to: Places * Miki, Hyōgo, a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan * Miki, Kagawa, a town in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan * Miki, Azerbaijan, a village in Astara Rayon, Azerbaijan People * Miki (given name) * Miki (surname) * Miki Núñez ...

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, ...

, Japan in 1896. The knife has no locking system, but is a friction folder or "

penny knife The penny knife was a originally a simple 18th century utility knife with a fixed blade. It got the name ''penny knife'' because it cost 1 penny in England and America towards the end of the 18th century. The famous ''Fuller's Penny Knife'' help ...

", using the friction of the swivel or the pressure of the user's thumb on its iconic lever or ''chikiri'', to prevent the knife from folding during use. The handle of the Higonokami is made of a folded over sheet of metal. The handle is stamped with the name of the maker of the knife and the steel used in the blade. A distinguishing feature is that the blade has a flat grind without a secondary bevel.

Etymology

The

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subse ...

used to spell Higonokami (肥後守) in Japanese means the "Governor of Higo". This was the most senior administrative position or '' Kokushi'' who governed Higo (肥後国), an old province on the island of Kyūshū, which is now in present-day

Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, Miyaza ...

. Within the

Taihō Code The was an administrative reorganisation enacted in 703 in Japan, at the end of the Asuka period. It was historically one of the . It was compiled at the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito. Nussbaum, Louis ...

, ''Kami'' (長官) was the highest of four titles of ''shitōkan'' (四等官) in the "four-ranked officials" system, the others being ''suke'' (次官), ''jō'' (判官) and ''sakan'' (主典). The ''shitōkan'' enforced the historical law system known as

Ritsuryō , , is the historical law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese Legalism in Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (律令制). ''Kyaku'' (格) are amendments of Ritsuryō, ''Shiki' ...

. ''Kami'' can be spelled in numerous ways depending on the government agency; in the case of the ''Kokushi'' (国司, "Governor's Office"), the kanji is 守 which literally means "protector".

History

The knife first appeared in 1896 as a result of smiths and metal workers struggling in post-

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...

Japan following the major reform of the country made by

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

in the late 19th century. With the abolition of the samurai class, the decline in demand for

swords A sword is a cutting and/or thrusting weapon. Sword, Swords, or The Sword may also refer to: Places * Swords, Dublin, a large suburban town in the Irish capital * Swords, Georgia, a community in the United States * Sword Beach, code name for th ...

required diversification into tools and knives. The pocketknives became very successful and popular in Japan. But sales went into decline after harsher

knife legislation Knife legislation is defined as the body of statutory law or case law promulgated or enacted by a government or other governing jurisdiction that prohibits, criminalizes, or restricts the otherwise legal manufacture, importation, sale, transfer, ...

was enacted in Japan in 1961 following the fatal stabbing of Japanese politician Inejirō Asanuma a year earlier. The name "Higonokami" is now trademarked by the Miki Custom Knife Guild in Miki City near

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, and it decides which brands can be associated with the name. However, only one fifth-generation manufacturer ''KaneKoma'' (from its Nagao Kanekoma Factory in Miki) is legally allowed to call its knives exclusively "Higonokami". Other knifemakers of traditional style or modernized versions of Higonokami must refer to their products as "Higo" or "Higonokami-style".

References

External links

* * {{Knives Pocket knives Japanese knives