Japan’s Beloved EDC Knife Is Now Godzilla Approved

In the penultimate episode of Apple’s new kaiju show, we got a much better look at this plot-driving, iconic friction folder.

By Sean Tirman

Published January 8, 2024

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If you’re watching Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, you know that a huge draw of the show is the larger-than-life titans, especially kaiju poster-child Godzilla. However, the story isn’t all about city-destroying monsters; at its core, it’s about humans trying to survive and understand a world of gargantuan beasts while also navigating uniquely human issues. And while the show itself is especially enthralling, it has also offered up a bit of gear spotting — displaying the prop team’s exceptional attention to detail and to-notch product knowledge.

In episode four, entitled “Parallels and Interiors,” the core team of human characters is split up in the frozen north of Alaska, far from civilization, searching for a means of rescue. In a particularly pivotal moment involving pencil shavings (and without spoiling anything), I caught a glimpse of an EDC icon, a Nagao Higonokami friction folding knife, in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment.

And now, in “Axis Mundi,” episode nine — the penultimate episode — we’ve got an even better look. Now, I can confirm that the knife is, in fact, a Nagao Higonokami, and I’ve even narrowed down two possible models based on the features of the one highlighted in the show.

Nagao Higonokami Friction Folder 90mm
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Nagao Higonokami Friction Folder 100mm
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How the Nagao Higonokami fits into Godzilla’s world

In a universe rife with building-sized monsters, you might think something as small as a pocket knife is an insignificant item. However, this particular knife has played an important part in the plot even before episode four. Around when they met in the show’s first episode, a pair of characters — Cate and Kentaro — bond over their father’s propensity for his favorite pen knife, his use of it in sharpening his pencils and the shavings left in its wake.

To be honest, I was expecting that to be the extent of the EDC discussion in the show. However, I was surprised to see the knife actually make an appearance in episode four at the 35:47 minute mark. Sure enough, it was a Nagao Higonokami — a classic knife that’s been in production in Japan since the late 1800s. As mentioned, I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone, so, if you’d like to see it for yourself, I recommend signing up for Apple TV+ and watching the show from the beginning (it’s really good).

Why the Nagao Higonokami is significant to the EDC world

The Nagao Higonikami is a simple, elegant tool that hasn’t changed much (if at all) since it was first introduced. Following the dissolution of the samurai class in the late 1800s, swordsmiths in Japan were left largely without a customer base. As a means of combating this, Komataro Nagao, the brand’s founder, and a Mr. Murakami started to produce simple yet beautiful knives in Hirata, Miki City, in the 1880s.

Years later, in 1894, Tasaburo Shigematsu, a hardware wholesaler, evolved this idea with the creation of a knife that folded into its own handle, marked by a “Chikiri” (tail) on the end of the knife that served as a lever to extend the blade and a means of keeping it extended when held in the hand. Thus, the Nagao Higonokami was born.

While it’s difficult to tell which version of the knife is used in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, it does appear to be a version with a brass handle and blue paper steel reverse tanto blade (one of the most classic, common formats for this particular knife). And now we can tell that it’s one with Japanese kanji etched into the side and with a cutout in the brass handle — which helps us narrow it down significantly (see the two most likely candidates below).

Of course, the brand also has a catalog of alternatives that, while largely adhering to the same iconic style, vary in colorways, materials and flourishes. You can find a good number of them over at Blade HQ (there are 81 listings as of the publishing of this article).