The Beautiful Ancient Art of Forging Japanese Knives
At 30-years-old, Yu Kikuchi was tired of his job. Working in an assembly line that made turbines, he was aching to find a new lease on life. So when he heard about 80-year-old master blacksmith Kosaku Matsumura who made ‘’nata,” or Japanese hatchets, he knew he had found his calling. He moved to the countryside and asked Matsumura to take him on as an apprentice. While Kikuchi has less than thee years of experience under his belt compared to Matsumura's 50, the young man still hopes to one day be at the level of his master. When the time comes, he hopes to take on an apprentice of his own, passing on the blacksmith’s torch.
