Unshu Chuzen Hamono Nakiri 160mm Shirogami#1

This otherwise standard nakiri is unusual in a couple of ways. It's a traditional warikomi blade forged by a swordsmith, and you don't find those every day. You can't buy it elsewhere online - the very definition of uncommon. Then there's the tang.

Look closely at our photographs and you'll see a material line on the blade neck a couple of centimetres from the handle. That's where the white#1 steel and soft iron warikomi blade meets a stainless steel neck and tang. Skilled smithing. The motivation is that over time the tang inside the handle can be a point of hidden rust.

It's a mark of the maker that Unshu Chuzen Hamono cares to future-proof their knives in this way. The underlying philosophy is 'naga-mochi', of making use of their product for a very long time. We like that.