INADA, Kentarou Profile
Higo Zogan
His artist name (pen name) is Mitsuhide（光秀）; hereafter I introduce him as Mitsuhide.
He was born in 1976 in Kumamoto city. At the age of 19, he became an apprentice to Mr. Tomoaki Kawaguchi（河口知明）, a master of Higo Zogan. After training for 7 years, he became an independent craftsman at the age of 27. Utilizing the technique of this traditional craft Higo Zogan, Mitsuhide is currently working on custom-made products. Through collaboration with other industries, he is introducing Higo Zogan for a wide range of ages. In addition to holding Higo Zogan inlay classes in his hometown of Kumamoto, he is recently making efforts to inform this heritage and traditional crafts through his workshops for both Japan and overseas.
My first encounter with Mitsuhide was through the introduction of Kimura swordsmith. While I was covering the EnArtEx project, I learned about Higo Zogan and became interested in it myself. It was this spring that I actually met him and was moved by his passion for Higo Zogan as a craftsman. Taking this opportunity, I would like to introduce Higo Zogan and Mitsuhide which are closely related to Japanese swords.
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