Although pocket knives are forbidden in Japan, I have the suspicion that maybe even a strict police officer would look the other way if he found on you a "Higo no Kami" (肥後守) with a history going back to the Meiji Period and more specifically to 1894, when Komataro Nagao thought of this particular design and Tasaburo Shigematsu started selling it giving it this name that brings to mind the old Higo province (肥後), present-day Kumamoto. Shigematsu had many clients from the area and hoped hat the name would make the little knife popular -he probably couldn't imagine that it would remain popular 130 years later, still made by Nagao's company.
(For a bigger version of this picture both in color and black and white, check my "Japan Arekore" set on Flickr)
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