Self-introduction
I simply follow my own path.
Biography
Year of birth: Born in 1991
Hometown: Takatsuki City, Osaka Prefecture
Hobbies: Running, solo travel, exploring the countryside, web design
Special skill: Writing, calligraphy
University: Graduated from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Since I was a child, I have liked to make something by my hand. I naturally started to feel like I am suited for a job like craftsman.
After I graduated from a collage, I was job hunting with the intention that ‘I want to spread Japanese traditional crafts to people around the world. I went to visit and observe various Japanese traditional craft like Kimono, Tatami, ceramic art, Japanese paper etc.…, but when I found the process called “Meikiri”—engraving a brand name onto the surface of a knife—at a knife shop in Kyoto, my intuition told me, “This is it!”.
Intuition already knew what I truly want to become. I had the courage to follow my heart and intuition. From then on, I visited a lot of knife shops, but I was turned down for that reason’ We are presently not recruiting for that.’ and ‘man is preferred over woman’. However, Aoki Knife accepted me with no hesitation, fortunately.
From the moment I began engraving Meikiri at Aoki Knife, there was a desire to be able to make a unique knife only I can do. Meikiri – engraving the brand name on the surface of the knife, is one of the normal tasks for a knife shop. However, merely doing the work that already exists isn't very interesting.
“Because no one has made it, it’s worth doing.”
Guided by this, I took up the challenge to engrave an image.
I continued to explore the most beautiful engraving techniques every day, using dozens of different chisels and hammers. Through years of self-taught practice, I created “engraved knives”—knives adorned with engraved designs on their surfaces. Before I knew it, knives had become a canvas for me to freely express my creativity.
While I was posting updates on my practice process on SNS, I received a message from a Chinese trading company asking,
“We’d like to order 10 carp knives.”
From then on, orders from distributors gradually increased. Thankfully, we now receive many orders for our engraved knives from all over the world.
One knife, one meeting.
Through this job, I have had a lot of my encounters with various people at home and abroad. Thanks to the "good encounters", I would like to aim for the engraver to be chosen by the customers.
MICHIKO KUBOTA
Japanese Industry
