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awk
1600
Sep 13, 2017
Higo's can be made with different blade shapes (and as well as different sizes, handle materials, and blade steel). The pictures in this drop show the "leaf" blade (I think that's what they call it), which is a drop point.
I have maybe 6-8 of these in different sizes, shapes, materials, etc.. I didn't pay more than $25 for any of them. Most of them I got from Japanese seller 330mate_com on eBay. There are a lot of copies out there (called higonaifu) but apparently the "official" Higonokami are made by a single elderly man. The one in this drop looks like one of those. If you buy a random one from eBay or Amazon you may get a copy. I bought two from Amazon from different sellers and one was a copy.
Here are the other blade shapes :
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At the top of the photo is the reverse tanto, the most common one you'll find for sale. The middle one is like the one on this drop. The last one is the "sword" (tanto) shape. Also the bottom two are white paper steel and the top one is blue paper steel.
The guy who makes these also makes different sizes, including a tiny one (with or without a little jingle bell), one with "longitudinal fold" where the handle is folded at the back instead of the top, and some fixed-blade knives. I've seen ones with damascus blades. Once I tried to make a spreadsheet of all the variations but gave up after a while.
Honestly, it's a pretty crappy knife, though the steel is good and arrives very sharp. You buy them for the handmade character and the history.