Nakagawa Blue #1 & #2

On my first trip to Japan I visited Mr. Kenishi Shiraki who at the time was considered one of the top blacksmiths in Japan. During my visit I met a young apprentice named Satoshi Nakagawa who had been working with Shiraki san for a couple of years. Now Mr. Shiraki has retired and Nakagawa san has taken over the business and is now a master smith in his own right. He is one of the few blacksmiths that are doing honyaki blades which are very difficult to forge out of a single piece of carbon steel. The photo above is one I took of Nakagawa san on that first visit.