Speaking of the Naguri pattern, check out these wild-looking hatchets, machetes, hammers and sandwich makers by Japan-based 0/0 Neru Design Works:

Here's the design philosophy of company founder Tsuyoshi "Neru" Shigehiro:

"Give shape to what you want."

"Items have the most value when they are new, and their value decreases as they get older. This is a common idea in Japan, which has a history of repeatedly scrapping and building, but overseas there are many things that don't lose value even if they are old."

"Of course, it's not just that it's old; there's something about it that people find valuable. Neru Design Works aims to create products that will get better over time with use. The longer it is used, the more its presence will increase. If you can make something like that, I'm sure someone will still be using it 10 or 20 years from now."

Neru is a former textile factory worker whose hobby was camping, making him well-acquainted with outdoor tools. Neru was inspired to design these after noticing Japanese manufacturing was going into decline. Japanese cutlery is world-class, yet he watched as one Japanese blacksmith after another went out of business. Within his own field, textiles, he observed domestic production decreasing as orders went overseas.

Working in collaboration with outdoor products brand Asimocraft, Neru resolved to design useful objects created by skilled Japanese artisans. The oak handles are individually carved and the blades are made by craftsmen in Niigata Prefecture. (I was unable to learn where the sandwich makers are cast.) "Because I worked for a manufacturer," Neru said in an interview, "I wanted to pursue materials and individual manufacturing processes, and do things that cannot be done through mass production."

The objects are priced as follows:

Hammer ¥17,600 (USD $116)

Sandwich maker ¥24,200 (USD $160)

Hatchet ¥26,400 (USD $174)

Machete ¥29,700 (USD $196)

While these aren't exactly cheap, they've proven so popular that they're limited to one purchase per person, and Neru has occasionally had to resort to a lottery system to take orders. At press time all four were sold out, and retailer Life Over Ground was taking pre-orders, at the individual links in the first paragraph.