Hidetoshi Nakayama

Japanese virtuoso of miniatures Hidetoshi Nakayama 

The famous Japanese master of applied arts Hidetoshi Nakayama was born in Kawagoe in 1971. There Nakayama-san creates knives, jewelry, and accessories.

Nakayama began to make traditional knives back in 1990 at the age of 19 under the patronage of Nobuyuki Uekama, one of the best knife makers.

In the mid-90s, Hidetoshi began to study the intricacies of the art of netsuke (carved miniatures made of ivory, wood, or metal) from the netsuke artist Yatsufusa Saito.

Hidetoshi formed a unique style that helped him quickly achieve worldwide fame and recognition in the knife community. Nakayama is sure that sculptural miniatures and designer knives have related aesthetic semantics and appeal directly to the human sense of beauty.

We can talk about Nakayama's knives for a long time because each of them is a small work of art. Nakayama’s blades are typically made from D2 chromium carbon steel. D2 is an unpretentious, enduring, and well-processed material.

However, the main details of the knives are handles, which Nakayama decorates with carved miniatures made of wood, bone, or metal. They often depict characters from traditional Japanese mythology: dragons, kappa demons, oni, bakeneko, hannya, and other creatures of the Japanese folklore bestiary. The attention to detail is amazing. Hidetoshi Nakayama makes knives of other kinds with inertial mechanics. It's not so easy to explain, you better take a look yourself!

In addition to knives and traditional Japanese bone figurines, the master makes a variety of jewelry and men's accessories, bracelets, rings, belts, etc.

Nakayama's author's EDC pens are well known which he makes from bronze and D2 steel. Such works often have a motive related to steampunk style and antique firearms. For example, in one of these pens, the writing part is extended using a mechanism similar to the bolt of a hunting carbine; on the other, the rod is driven by a stylized trigger.

Since 2001, when the author sold the first custom knife at Blade Show West, Nakayama has been participating in international knife shows every year and has won numerous awards for his work. In addition, the master carries his carving netsuke to exhibitions, which are valued no less than his knives.

The artist collaborates with the famous Japanese jewelry brand Oz Abstract and has his trademark C365.

You can buy Hidetoshi Nakayama's Japanese accessories, as well as other jewelry and souvenirs in the Gifts and Accessories section of our catalog.