Photo: Naked & Famous Denim
Most pocket knives are mechanisms — locks, springs, bearings. The Higonokami is a lever and a pivot, essentially unchanged since the 1890s. This edition changes exactly one thing: what the handle is made of.
Verdict
| What it is | Naked & Famous Denim × Nagao Kanekoma Higonokami in Titanium — a Japanese friction folder with a titanium handle and a VG10 stainless blade, opened by a chikiri thumb lever. No lock, no spring |
| Price | $133 — Naked & Famous Denim's own store, checked Wed Nov 11, 2026; the All Black edition runs alongside at $115 |
| Availability | Releases Thu Nov 12, 2026 at 11 AM ET at the maker's store; listed now as coming soon. One size, one SKU per edition |
| The angle | A 19th-century friction folder from the maker still building the genuine article — with its one heavy part swapped for titanium |
| Verdict | The Higonokami was already the simplest knife in the drawer. In titanium it is the lightest version of itself — the design untouched, the carry easier. |
What it is
Naked & Famous Denim has form with this knife: its previous Higonokami edition wrapped the handle in indigo selvedge denim. This one goes the other way — metal, and the lightest practical one. The knife itself is Nagao Kanekoma's pattern, made in Japan, and it is barely a mechanism at all: a blade on a single pivot inside a folded titanium handle, swung open by the chikiri, the small thumb lever at the tang. Nothing locks it open; friction and your grip do the work, as they have since the design appeared in Miki in the late 19th century. The name means “Governor of Higo”, for the former province around present-day Kumamoto, where many of the knife's early customers lived.
The blade is VG10 — V Gold 10, a stainless steel from Japan's Takefu Special Steel that takes a fine edge and resists corrosion. One side of the handle is etched with the Naked & Famous logo and its sword-bearing figure; the other carries Nagao Kanekoma's maker's mark and the Higonokami name, with VG10 stamped at the tang. It ships in a washi knife box.
Alongside it, the All Black edition at $115: an Aogami blue-paper carbon-steel blade and a brass handle, both under a black fluorine coating. The coating is functional — its nonstick finish keeps tape adhesive from clinging to the blade — and, on the handle, temporary by design: it wears back with use to reveal the brass beneath, which patinas from there.
Why it matters
Every other corner of everyday carry has been optimised into complexity — more locks, more bearings, more parts. The Higonokami asks the opposite question: how little knife is enough? A lever, a pivot, a folded handle. Titanium answers the weight half of that question without touching the design: no lock added, no clip, no mechanism to fail. And the mark on the handle matters — in Naked & Famous' own telling, only one manufacturer still makes authentic Higonokami, and this is that maker's knife, not the style of it.
Specs
| Brand | Naked & Famous Denim, with Nagao Kanekoma (Miki, Japan) |
| Model | Higonokami Pocket Knife — Titanium With VG10 Blade (SKU 1901654KN-TITANI-QTY) |
| Blade | VG10 stainless steel (Takefu Special Steel) |
| Handle | Titanium — N&F logo etched one side, Nagao Kanekoma maker's mark the other |
| Mechanism | Friction folder; chikiri thumb lever; no lock |
| Also available | All Black Florine Coated — Aogami blade, brass handle, black fluorine coating — $115 |
| Box | Washi knife box |
| Dimensions | Not stated |
| Weight | Not stated |
| Price | $133 at the maker's store |
What to check before buying
- Release timing. Both editions go on sale Thu Nov 12, 2026 at 11 AM ET; until then the store shows them as coming soon. Each is a single one-size SKU.
- No lock. A friction folder is held open by friction and your grip on the chikiri lever. That format is the point of the design — know it before it goes in a pocket.
- No dimensions or weight are published. The maker's listing gives neither for these editions; judge scale from the product photos or in hand, and don't borrow figures from other Higonokami — they are different SKUs.
- Pick your steel. The VG10 is stainless — the low-maintenance carry. The All Black's Aogami is a high-carbon steel: the traditional choice, with basic carbon-steel care.
Price record
| Price | $133 |
| Source | Naked & Famous Denim's own store (nakedandfamousdenim.com) — checked Wed Nov 11, 2026; the All Black edition lists at $115 on the same check |
| Featured | Site-first, Wed Nov 11, 2026 — the Instagram post follows in Thursday's Field Kit carousel |
Want one?
- In the shop: browse current stock — one-off pieces, and they turn over fast.
- Hunting one? Join the Want List — tell us the maker and the budget; pieces like this surface in our trawl most weeks.
- This one: at the source — See it at Naked & Famous Denim. Not our listing. See Disclosure.
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Spotted, not sold by us — this knife lives at Naked & Famous Denim. Prices are a snapshot from when we spotted it. Disclosure
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Shop the pick
Naked & Famous × Nagao Kanekoma Higonokami — Titanium / VG10
$133 — Naked & Famous Denim, checked Wed Nov 11, 2026
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