A is a type of folding

pocket knife A pocketknife (also spelled as pocket knife) is a knife with one or more blades that fold into the handle. They are also known as jackknives, folding knives, EDC knife, or may be referred to as a penknife, though a penknife may also be a specif ...

originating in Miki,

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

, 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 the United States towards the end of the 18th century. The famous ''Fuller's Penny Kn ...

", 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 A blade's grind is its cross-sectional shape in a plane normal to the edge. Grind differs from Blade#Knife blade profiles .28Patterns.29, blade profile, which is the blade's cross-sectional shape in the plane containing the blade's edge and ...

without a secondary bevel.

Etymology

The

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

used to spell ''higonokami'' (肥後守) in Japanese means "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 is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

, which is now in present-day

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 t ...

. 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 Japanese legal system, legal system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Legalism (Chinese philosophy), Chinese Legalism in Feudal Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (). ''Kya ...

. ''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 means "protector".

History

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

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

Japan following the major reforms made by

Emperor Meiji , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...

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

swords A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

, especially after wearing them in public became illegal in 1876, 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 legislation, 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, ...

was enacted in Japan in 1961 following the fatal stabbing of Japanese politician

Inejirō Asanuma was a Japanese politician and leader of the Japan Socialist Party. During World War II, Asanuma was aligned with the Imperial Rule Assistance Association and advocated for Pacific War, war in Asia. Asanuma later became a forceful advocate of s ...

as well as the attempt on then Prime Minister

Nobusuke Kishi was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. He is remembered for his exploitative economic management of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in China in the 1930s, ...

a year earlier, both by far-right activists. The name "higonokami" is now trademarked by the Miki Custom Knife Guild in Miki City near

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, 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