O-Kaiko sama Kuwakiri-bocho 165mm Stainless

Unusual in all sorts of ways. 

First, we don't know anything about the person who made it. Our supplier simply said 'the craftsman has passed away', perhaps thinking it no longer matters one way or the other. But we want to know more! Perhaps one day we will. We thought it might hail from Gunma Prefecture (silkworm country) but it's actually a Fukui Prefecture/Echizen knife. The company was established in 1950 and that's as far as we've made it with our investigations.

What else. Well, there's the blade obviously. Like a cross between a large noodle knife and a nakiri, but compact.

Kaiko is the Japanese for silkworm, and 'O-Kaiko sama' is a bit like Honorable Mister Silkworm. No, we don't cut silkworms with this knife, it's actually a knife for efficiently chopping mulberry ('kuwa') leaves, to feed the silkworms in your roof space.

No, we don't have silkworms in our roof space. We're guessing you don't either. It doesn't matter! For push cutting, what could be better, or more space efficient? A 165mm cutting edge in a 260mm long knife - yes! It's a nakiri for the tiny home movement.

Mirth aside, it's a rare knife and becoming more rare by the day. We suspect that when they're gone, they're gone, and we're keeping one for ourselves.