「Konobu」

The third generation Konobu

Kazuyoshi Saito is from Ogawa, Kodaira City, Tokyo, and born in 1945. His father (Kozo Saito) was a carpenter chisel blacksmith, trained under Mr. Suzuki ( full name is  Shousuke Suzuki in kokubunji city, Tokyo ) before setting out on his own. At that time, Kozo Saito had no particular name and worked for four wholesalers.  Kazuyoshi Saito had helped his father with menial work since he was an elementary school student. His father usually knocks off work at 5pm. His job was to use a hammer to hit a Tagane (Japanese smith cold chisel) to split the steel plate in half. The steel plate was prepared by his father for the next day's work. His father made steel plates long enough for two chisels at one time, which needed to be cut in half before use. He still remember the pleasant, high-pitched sound of the cold steel being hit with the cold chisel.

Another job was his duty to heat the water in the bathtub, but he alway wanted to finish it quickly and play beigoma with his friends.  In order to heat the water quickly, he hurriedly loaded up on Coke (fuel) and not surprisingly, was scolded for making it too hot. However, he had an advantage that was different from other children: he could use grinder to process the beigoma to make them spin better.

His father (Kozo Saito) passed away at the age of 49. When he was 18 years old, he moved from his parents' home to live with Second Generation Konobu（two stations away）, and became an apprentice of Second Generation Konobu. At the initiation day, his mother came with him and brought him a quilt, although he thought it was unnecessary. Since he joined the family craft factory from an early age and grew up among craftsmen, he felt no discomfort in working with and living with craftsmen. However, on the first day of working with his master, he overslept and did not wake up until the afternoon. He slept soundly on the second floor of the small factory, even though people was doing some work downstairs. Even so, his master did not mad at him and he even told him, “you could sleep more.” Second Generation Konobu was a person who never got angry, and he don't remember ever being scolded.

History of Konobu

The history of Konobu dates back to Shinkichi Takiguchi, who specialized in making tools for shrine carpenters in the early Meiji period. At that time, the brand name that has been used were “信吉(Shinkichi)” and “義宗(Gimune)” . His son Rokunosuke Subsequently used the brand name “ Konobu.” Kazuyoshi Saito's master, Kiyoshi Takiguchi, was born in 1920 and is the eldest son of Rokunosuke. He was the second generation of “ Konobu” .

The Training of the third generation Konobu

Kazuyoshi Saito was trained as a charcoal breaker for three years and also washed Coke (fuel), becoming a completely dark-skinned guy. Besides that, He was assigned to deliver about 100 chisels by motorbike to a sharpening shop which located in Asakusa. 

He learned the job little by little, and spent nearly 10 years doing the basic shaping process such as Komisuri (tang finishing), ura making, and making widths. As an apprentice, Kazuyoshi Saito knew that he could not alway expect his master to teach him directly, so he started by imitating. He learned it by hearing rather than by seeing it: he and his master sat in front of their respective operating floors and shaped the chisels with files. He tried hard to make the same sounds and rhythms as the master made. All that was left was for the master to check the daily work.  

Hidari Konobu

At its heyday（ around 30 years ago, during the economic bubble）, when wood carving was booming, one customer ordered as many as 10,000 chisels. At that time, there were six craftsmen had been hired to response to market demands. Kazuyoshi Saito had a 45-year mentor-pupil relationship with Master Kiyoshi, who passed away six years ago. Subsequently, the company was taken over from the first generation Konobu's wife to her daughter, who asked him to be the master. He agreed to do so but with the promise that he would quit the job if it didn't turn a profit after six months. After that, unfortunately and regrettably, the “Konobu”stamp was taken outside. Although the company was named Konobu Co., Ltd., but since then the inscription that has been used  was “Hidari-Konobu.”

The original (Japanese) author is ishikoso san. I just translated it. Original URL: https://note.com/isicojp/n/nedb223447b2a