Nigara Hamono is located in Hirosaki city, Aomori Prefecture, on the west coast of the very northern tip of the main island of Honshu, Japan. Their family has a 350 year old history of making knives and swords and more recently has expanded into structural steel beams for use in construction. Tsuyoshi Yoshizawa stands as the 8th generation smith in the lineage of blacksmiths at Nigara Hamono and creates knives with his younger brother and two other craftsmen.

Nigara Hamono knives are characterized by their signature tsuchime pattern, as well as play with stainless damascus. The Anmon line is inspired by the Anmon waterfalls, also located in Aomori prefecture, on the western most part, in Shirakami-Sanchi, designated as a natural World Heritage site. These knives stand out for their aesthetic appeal, thinness behind the edge, and functionality, given they make their steel in house, and work primarily with high powdered stainless steels. They produce uniquely versatile profiles, ranging from very flat “kiritsuke nakiris” to aggressively curved “kiritsuke gyutos”.