The Mysterious Indian-Head Hunter: A 1960s Seki City Export Knife

Every old blade carries a story — sometimes stamped clearly on the steel, other times whispered only through its lines and the leather that shelters it. This knife came to me through the modern wilderness of Facebook Marketplace here in southern Ontario, yet its spirit was forged half a world away in Seki City, Japan — the heart of post-war knife making..

???? A Knife Without a Name

Stamped only with the single word “JAPAN”, this fixed-blade hunting knife bears all the hallmarks of the Seki export era — roughly 1965 – 1975 — when Japanese workshops produced rugged, affordable blades for North-American outdoorsmen. The factories of Seizo Imai, Tak Fukuta, and Ichiro Hattori supplied countless retailers, each branding the same knife in their own way. Some wore the names Imperial, Frontier, or Edge Mark; others were sold through Sears, Montgomery Ward, or Eaton’s with no brand at all.

The construction tells the tale: a carbon-steel clip-point blade with a short sawback, full or skeleton tang visible between jigged Delrin “stag” handles, and fittings of cast aluminum. It is pure mid-century bushcraft utility — simple, durable, and honest.

???? The Sheath with the Indian Head

The leather sheath is embossed with a proud Native-style chief’s head — a design used on many Frontier Hunter or Indian Head Hunter knives sold in North America during that time. Whether this sheath is the knife’s first companion or a later pairing, it reflects the frontier imagery that defined mid-century outdoor marketing: rugged, independent, and wild.

Collectors have long noted this particular emboss appearing on sheaths imported for Imperial’s Frontier line and Gutmann Cutlery’s Edge Mark / Explorer series. Either way, the sheath completes the story — a product of its era, when adventure was sold in leather and brass.

???? Specifications

Origin: Seki City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan
Era: 1965 – 1975
Blade: Carbon steel, clip-point with partial sawback
Tang: Full / skeleton tang
Handle: Jigged Delrin imitation-stag scales, brass-pinned
Fittings: Cast aluminum guard and pommel
Sheath: Brown leather with embossed Indian-head motif
Overall Length: Approx. 9 – 10 inches

???? Historical Context

After World War II, Seki’s craftsmen rebuilt their livelihoods by supplying the West’s growing appetite for outdoor gear. These export knives were often sold wholesale to American importers who rebranded them. The same blade might appear one year as an Imperial Frontier, the next as an Edge Mark Explorer, or even as an unmarked Sears hunting knife. Their affordability and reliability made them staples in camps, tackle boxes, and Scout kits across North America.

Even Coleman-era Ka-Bar knives shared these lines, as Coleman contracted the same Seki workshops during the 1970s. This places the Indian-Head Hunter squarely within that wider family of Coleman-Ka-Bar and Imperial imports — a quiet survivor of the golden age of Japanese craftsmanship.

???? Closing Thoughts

This knife might never reveal which importer first claimed it, but its spirit remains clear. It is a blade from the age when steel and Delrin crossed oceans to meet leather and wilderness — a time when every boy dreamed of the frontier and every man carried a sheath knife “just in case.”

Unbranded / OEM Seki-made hunting knife, circa 1965 – 1975. Distributed in North America by major importers including Imperial Frontier, Edge Mark Explorer, and Coleman-Ka-Bar. A tangible relic of the post-war Seki export era.

The Mysterious Indian-Head Hunter: A 1960s Seki City Export Knife