Mitsuhide's Interest

HigoZogan craftsman - INADA, Kentaro from Kumamoto

Mitsuhide became an independent craftsman after establishing a job of creating his artwork with 100% order made production. He said it was basically word of mouth advertising, and other than that, he also receives orders through SNS contacts. In addition to this order made production, he also runs the inlay Zogan class in his local Kumamoto city.

He runs his class every Saturday at the Kumamoto Craft Museum or the public hall. The students range in age from the teens to the 70s. In addition to the monthly fee of 5,000 yen, he asks to purchase tools for 20,000 yen at the time of joining, and you will be asked to pay separately for the material costs of each work you make.

Mitsuhide himself recognizes and defines himself as an engineer rather than a craftsman. He makes what his customer wants according to the budget with understanding the value of the customer's desire. He is particular about making it a work that people want to use every day, rather than making it a waste for the chest of drawers. He is constantly researching the design and technique of inlaying on the hand guard and fittings of Japanese swords, such as tsuba, fuchigashira, kojiri, chestnut kata, kojira, and horse needles.

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