Honyaki yanagiba with a 270 mm long blade.

Blacksmith: Haruma san.
Polishing: Erik Mases.
Steel: Shirogami#2
Number of layers: 1 layer, mizu Honyaki.
HRC: 63-64
Length: 265 mm from tip to heel.
Blade height: 35 mm
Weight: 227 grams
Handle: Ebony with blonde buffalo horn

Honyaki means that the entire blade is forged from a single piece of steel, in this case, the carbon steel shirogami #2. It is an extensive process to forge and grind such a blade, resulting in a knife with fantastic cutting properties. To prevent the knife from becoming too rigid, the upper part of the blade is not hardened as much as the lower part. Haruma covers parts of the blade in clay to slow down the hardening process, and this can be seen through the upper part having small waves marking the hardening line, called hamon. Polishing honyaki requires great patience and deep knowledge. Erik has spent approximately 20 hours polishing to create a contrast-rich blade with a clear hamon, where the final finish is done with uchigomori natural stones.

Unfortunately, Haruma is no longer with us. He was born in 1941 and was active in his small forge in Sakai until his passing. During our visit in 2016, he passionately spoke about his forging art, and it was clear that his passion for the craft never waned, despite being an active smith for over 50 years. Haruma belonged to the old school. Stubborn and determined that his forging art was the right path to take. He forges knives from carbon steel, primarily shirogami steel in a single layer that undergoes a process called differential hardening; Honyaki!