Yamamoto Hamono / Miyazaki

Yamamoto san. Sure hands.

In Japan, someone has to be senior. Naturally in the realm of the Japanese kajiya someone must also qualify as the most senior working craftsman in Japan, and we have to wonder if it may not be Yamamoto san. 

A tall man, he's still striding (not shuffling) around his vast and very well equipped workspace in Hyuga City in Miyazaki Prefecture, as he has no doubt done for many decades. What a joint! With a place like this steps away from your front door no right-thinking man would ever consider retirement. 

Honestly, he could easily be twenty years younger than his (redacted) years. Mrs Yamamoto also appears well, happily providing hot can-coffee to a drop-in visitor from far Hiroshima (that would be me). A quick and cheery chat, a pleasing purchase, an invitation and a promise to return. A nice encounter.

Yamamoto san forges a variety of knives but his main game is heavy-duty nata, axes and other forestry-related tools. For our next visit, maybe.