Left Hand MATAGI NAGASA Knife 180mm Blade Steel Handle (Fukuro Nagasa) with Wild Akita Japanese Cedar wood cover.
MATAGI is groups of supermen of hunters in Japan for 600 years of their history in recorded document.
They hunt bear, rabbit, dear, boar, fish, mountain vegetables and etc, even though they do it without gun. MATAGI NAGASA is a very reliable knife which they carry it anywhere they go in the mountains.
They say, as long as we have MATAGI NAGASA Knife, we can survive wherever we go in the mountains.
The handle is forged steel with a hollow in the middle. It can put a wood rod into the hole, and put a pin in the side of a small hole, and then it can use it as a spear.
It has been proved to hunt bears, dears, and boars with the spear. It can be Haken (piton) to climb up mountain. The blade of the knife is made of Yasuki Hagane which is the same kinds of the steel of Japanese sword. Yasuki Hagane is controlled by Hitachi Metal Co. after World War II, but MATAGI NAGASA knife is used old stock from before WWII. It is slightly different steel from after WWII.
Around 1936, one of famous metal ology professor had been the top of the company, and changed the processes of making the steel. I have heard that it was tried to remove as much as unwanted substances from the steel to contaminate such as Si, Mn, P, and S.
That makes pure carbon steel to more purify.
I also heard that it happened only a couple years. Some of great blacksmiths knew it from making their blades and sharpening and using, and they bought as much as they could, because they knew it is much better than before.
Nishine Hamono Seisakujyo has used the steel for only Matagi Nagasa which is serious way to use in the mountains.
The rest of knife blades are used blue 2 steel mostly.
That is why it is still used as valuable steel No one else can get it commercially anymore.
It is very precious value steel.
The wood cover is made as put on waist with strong strings.
The wood is made out of Akita Wild Japanese Cedar that is one of highest quality Japanese cedar. Wild Japanese cedar might not get in several years, because it will be prohibited to cut down wild one. The back of wood cover can use it for cutting board, if it really needs it.
The Japanese cedar also has antibacterial effect.
The blacksmith, Mr. Nishine is the forth generations of taking over the works to make MATAGI NAGASA Knife to save Fukuro Nagasa as one of traditional Japanese cultural treasures.
The blade length: 180mm (7 1/8 inch)
The total length of the knife: 330mm (13 inch)
The thickest part of the spine: 5.5mm (1/4 inch)
The total weight of the knife: 12.0oz. (336g)
The width of the blade from the heel to the spine: 43mm (1 11/16 inch)
It is single bevel blade with made out of soft iron and pure carbon steel
Ura side has slight angle like 5 degrees.
It is Matagi Nagasa style Ura to make it stronger the edge