Ive just bought the knife below. It is a Kōtetsu bunka 170mm. It is made by Takayuki Shibata who is best known as the house sharpener of Masakage. The knife is made at Takefu Village, but as far as I am able to understand, is not part of the Masakage range. The name, Kōtetsu¸ means literally ironclad which was the first ironclad battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. On his web site Shibata explains: The Kōtetsu had a very unusual bow. It looks like my knife. And the Kōtetsu was the first in her class, and she used a pioneering, "cutting-edge" design - just like my knife. The Kōtetsu was formidable - just like my knife. And the Kotetsu was ironclad - somewhat like my knife. My knife is actually steel clad with steel. Inside I put SG-2 stainless powder steel. Outside, I have clad it with stainless steel sides.
Obviously its a cool knife, but when I for some reason decided to read more about the Kōtetsu the story turned out to be way more interesting than I had ever expected not least if you are a Dane (as I happen to be) or an American.
The following is largely copied from Danish and English Wikipidia-sites (if you couldnt care less about naval history, then dont read).
Kōtetsu (甲鉄?, literally "Ironclad"), later renamed Azuma (東?, "East") was the first ironclad warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship, originally named Sphynx, was initially built for the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War by the shipbuilder l'Arman in Bordeaux. However, since France did not want to take sides in the American Civil War, the French government decided to block the sale. Soon an alternative opportunity arose, since Denmark which was at the brink of war with Prussia and Austria wanted to supply its navy with an ironclad ship, and the ship became known as Stærkodder, a legendary, but purely fictional hero/villain character of old Norse mythology. (Stærkodder or Starkard in old Norse was a Viking much loved by Odin, but hated by Thor which meant that for all the blessings Odin bestowed upon him, Thor countered with a curse i.e. when Odin promised him great wealth, Thor responded that no matter how many treasures he was able to gather he would never be satisfied etc., etc. One cannot help but think that Stærkodder was a strange name for a battleship since the character is highly ambivalent he did great deeds, but was also a simple murderer
) Anyway, the Arman shipyard had great difficulties in finishing the ship, and when it finally arrived in Copenhagen in November 1864 the war with Prussia and Austria was long lost (not a very big surprise to anybody but the Danes). Hence the Danish Navel Ministry was not especially keen on buying the ship and pointed out quite correctly, it seems that it was badly build and did not live up to the promised specifications. The Confederation, however, still wanted an ironclad battleship, and a sale to the Confederation was therefore arranged.
On January 6, 1865 the vessel took on a Confederate crew at Copenhagen under the command of Captain T. J. Page, and was named the CSS Stonewall. The arrival of the "formidable" Stonewall in America was dreaded by the Union, and several ships tried to intercept her, among them the USS Kearsarge and the USS Sacramento. Stonewall sprang a leak as already stated it was badly build after leaving Quiberon, Brittany and Captain Page steamed her into Spain for repairs. In February and March, USS Niagara and Sacramento kept watch from a distance as Stonewall lay anchored off Corunna during February 1865. On March 24 Captain Page steamed the Stonewall out to sea, challenging the U.S. Navy vessels, which turned and fled, fearful of engaging the ironclad. Finding that the enemy had run, Captain Page steamed for Lisbon, intending to cross the Atlantic Ocean from there and attack at Port Royal, the base of Major General Sherman's attack on South Carolina. Stonewall reached Nassau on May 6, and then sailed on to Havana, Cuba, where Captain Page learned of the war's end. There he decided to turn her over to the Spanish Captain General of Cuba for the sum of $16,000. The vessel was then turned over to United States authorities in return for reimbursement of the same amount. She was temporarily de-commissioned, stationed at a U.S. Navy dock, until she was offered for sale to the Japanese government of the Tokugawa shogunate.
Kōtetsu was supposed to be delivered to the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868, in order to reinforce the ongoing modernization of its army and navy. US$30,000 had already been paid, and the remaining US$10,000 were to be paid on delivery. When the Boshin War between the shogunate and pro-Imperial forces broke out, Western powers took a neutral stance, retrieved any military advisors they had in Japan, and stopped the delivery of military material, including the delivery of Kōtetsu to the shogunate. The ship actually arrived under Japanese flag, but US Resident-Minister Van Valkenburgh ordered her put back under American flag on arrival in Japan under a caretaker crew of the US naval squadron then stationed there. Kōtetsu was finally delivered to the new Meiji government in February 1869. She was immediately put to use and dispatched with seven other steam warships to the northern island of Hokkaidō, to fight the remnant of the Shogun's forces, who were trying to form an independent Ezo Republic there, with the help of French ex-military advisors. On March 25, 1869, in the Naval Battle of Miyako Bay, Kōtetsu successfully repulsed a surprise night attempt at boarding by the rebel Kaiten (spearheaded by survivors from the Shinsengumi), essentially thanks to the presence of a Gatling gun on board. She then participated in the invasion of Hokkaidō and various naval engagements in the Naval Battle of Hakodate Bay. Kōtetsu was renamed Azuma in 1871 and remained in military service until 1888, when she was turned to non-combat harbour service. Kōtetsu was well-armed with casemated rotating turret guns, and considered a "formidable" and "unsinkable" ship in her time. She could sustain direct hits without her armour being pierced, and prevail against any wooden warship.
Ironically the sister ship of the Kōtetsu or Sphynx, the Chepos was later sold to the Prussian Navy and named Prinz Adalbert. Due to its bad build even worse than the Sphynx/Stækodder/CSS Stonewall/Kōtetsu it was decommissioned after few years and several leakages.
Having learned that, there was really no turning back, I just had to buy the knife. Is it any good yes. Do I love it yes. Because of the knife or because of the story? Who cares I dont!
(Sorry for this very long post, but I did warn you
)
). 
