Encounters in France

My first contact with Japan was in high school, when a friend sat next to me while listening to Japanese music. When I heard this magnificent language I immediately wanted to learn it.

I used to learn, Spanish, English Chinese and Korean because I really liked foreign languages ​​but Japanese language was fascinating and very pleasant to pronounce.

I first studied alone at home for 2 years, then I went to a night school while I was a management student in Paris.

In this night curse school I met Japanese people for the first time. I thought that the Japanese were nice and good, so I left my management school to study everything related to Japan at INALCO University in Paris Sorbonne.

I started my degree of Japanese literature and civilization in 2009.

At this university I learned the History of Japan, Japanese arts and the language.

I was fascinated by Japanese history that no one talks about, the Jomon, Yayoi and Kofun eras. For me the roots of true Japan begin in these eras, before Buddhism.

My family is originally from Brittany.

In Brittany, before Christianity there was also a culture close to ancient Japan where there are also many burial mounds and kami everywhere in nature. I felt close and familiar with Japan without knowing it.

In 2011, I planned to go to Tokyo with friends, but there was this terrible earthquake and the nuclear incident. My friends canceled their trip and I decided to wait until 2012 to come to Japan.

From Tokyo to Aichi

I first arrived in Tokyo in January 2012 to stay with a friend who helped me the first month.

Everything was different from home. The city, the many stations, the trains always on time, the remarkable service, the kindness of the people, the feeling of security and cleanliness everywhere. From the first weeks I loved being here. I missed the bread and the cheese a little, but I loved the food. Everything was new, everything was nice.

Then I went to work in a Ryokan in Tahara, Aichi prefecture. It was the countryside. I helped serve meals, clean dishes and maintain buildings and garden.

Around my residence, there were the mountains, the forest and the immense beaches. Everything was calm and beautiful.

My friend from Tokyo asked me to help a blacksmith in Sakai. The craftsman was having an exhibition in France and he needed translation into French. When the blacksmith returned to Japan after his successful trip, he invited me to his home to thank me.

First Steps in Sakai

I went to Sasuke's house for the first time in July 2012.

When I entered his studio, it was like a dream. Outside the modern world, inside the Edo period. The workshop was made of wood, the floor was earth, old tools everywhere and calm atmosphere.

We ate and drank a lot of sake. Sasuke offered to help him in the workshop until the end of my working holiday visa and I accepted.

I came to live in Sakai in August 2012 and my life as an apprentice began.

I lived in a Bunka Juutaku apartment. No hot water, no shower or bathtub. No heating or air conditioning.

I was very hot in summer and very cold in winter. I slept on a futon.

The apartment was old and at night when I turned off the lights I could hear the neighbor downstairs playing with friends, especially the Friday and Saturday nights... There were always cockroaches, even with insecticide... I was experiencing a new side of Japan. But I never disliked it.

I translated Sasuke's catalogs and his website into French and English.

I contacted people to promote the workshop around the world.

During an exhibition at the famous Fukuju sake brewery in Kobe in October, the local newspaper came to interview me.

It was my first time in media. A few weeks later a television channel also came to do a report on the workshop because it was rare for a foreigner to work in a place like that.

Sasuke understood that I could be useful and he offered me to stay with him to become his apprentice.

The apprenticeship

So I started a cultural activity visa for 5 years to learn traditional Japanese blacksmithing but also Japanese culture.

Work started at 7 a.m. and ended at 10 p.m.

In the morning, I cleaned the workshop, the store, I said prayers to the kamidana of the kitchen, the house and the forge. I maintained the knives, scissors and a katana with oil.

At lunchtime we ate together, and the master ordered me to take at least 10 minutes of nap.

In the afternoon I cut metal bars and coal for the master until the evening.

From 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. I watched Sasuke forge and I only learned by watching.

Every day the same thing.

As apprenticeship is very poorly paid, I had to give French lessons in the evening after work and act as a tourist guide on my days off.

I was a guide in Kyoto, Himeji, Nara, Mount Koya and Osaka. I learned a lot about Kansai culture.

I remember that at that time I counted pennies to buy food, I was quite poor, life was hard, work too, but I was happy.

A little fame

Several times a month there were documentaries, TV shows and newspaper articles about me. Thanks to the media I kept the motivation to continue.

In 2014 I went to Sanjo in Niigata Prefecture for a documentary with NHK world. I met fascinating artisans for a week.

Since that day I have been very attached to Sanjo. I love the know-how and craftsmanship of this region.

I am an admirer of the blacksmith Hinoura Tsukasa in Sanjo.

In 2015 the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited me to reward me for my work. I understood that my work could help Japan make its traditions known. The mayor of Sakai at that time congratulated me, he always supported me because he was close to my master's family.

I also get along well with the current mayor who has always been friendly to me, I think he is doing a good job for the city of Sakai.

In 2018 I left Sasuke and started forging on my own by renting a car garage.

I wanted to go to work in Sanjo but the Sakai industrial promotion office offered me the opportunity to become an advisor-coordinator. I agreed and continued to practice making knives in the garage in secret because relations with rivals can be bad. The cutlery world is a very special world where people are very proud. This pride can unfortunately lead to jealousy and rivalries. I work to ensure that these rivalries and bad behavior do not harm the culture because many knife makers are selfish and only think about their business instead of protecting this heritage.

Now

I still work for Sakai City. My office is at the city's Traditional Arts Museum where I advise visitors, artisans, businesses and the media. 60% of the museum's sales come from tourists, it is a very important market for the local economy.

Every year, with the industrial promotion office we go abroad, to France, Germany, Luxembourg etc... to promote traditional arts.

It was while organizing cultural promotional events and knife sharpening demonstrations in 2018 that I met Frédéric Le Guen-Geffroy. Chef in the greatest restaurants in Paris, in love with Sakai cutlery, I supplied him with many knives and he became World Paté en Croute Champion in 2023, a championship where the Japanese excel. He admits that this performance is also due to the Japanese knives he use on a daily basis.

This great chef has become one of my best friends and we regularly work together to promote Japanese culture because he also uses a lot of Japanese culinary products.

He organizes cooking classes in his kitchen on the Champs Elysees. His success is growing more and more and he likes to share this culture with the Japanese as well, who are welcome in the workshops he organizes under the name TopoFoodies.

The Japanese sushi master Sakai Hiroshi owner of The Sakai Sushi in Tokyo and Frankfurt in Germany is also one my faithful ambassador.

Thanks to my network of chefs around the world, I try to raise awareness of Japanese cutlery and all the beauties of Japan.

Sakai is a historic city, older than Nara or Kyoto. It was in the vicinity of Sakai, in Sumiyoshi, that Japan's first international port existed.

The port of Sakai was the point of exchange with the world and many new things first entered Sakai before being transported to other cities.

Since the Kofun period 1600 years ago, many blacksmiths and craftsmen have come to live in Sakai and have continued to work here for centuries. It’s a fascinating city where most of the professional knives for Japanese cuisine are made.

Sashimi knives, vegetable knives, fish knives etc... Without Sakai knives there is no Japanese cuisine.

With this job I studied a lot about the local culture. Incense, the Sen no Rikyu tea ceremony, tenugui, wagashi, shamisen, knives, koinobori, soy sauce etc... are traditional Sakai arts known in Japan, my job is to make them known in the world.

I had the chance to be an interpreter and guide for a week to present Tosa breweries to French sommeliers. I thus discovered the Kochi region, it is the place where I have eaten and drank the best since I came to Japan. I fell in love with Shikoku culinary products.

My freelance status allows me to work for several people and to always learn more. Blacksmith, advisor, tourist guide, coordinator...

Today, I have my forge, close to the Sakai cutlery museum and my own brand of knives.

My workshop is an old house from the Edo period where I display my knives and other products and where visitors can sometimes try forging if the timing is right.

To make a good Japanese knife you need two metals. Iron and steel. We superimpose the two and forge the blade. The knife must be hardened by heating it and soaking it in water. Then it is the craftsman who sharpens the knife, then another craftsman to make the handles. In Japanese we say Bungyo (分業) because each step is done by a specialized craftsman, which allows for a high quality result.

I also forge unusual items in Sakai like incense holders, candle holders, plate and other things. I try to take French influence to improve myself and diversify my work in order to please all my visitors.

I continue to promote Sakai and give lectures in Japanese to raise awareness among Japanese people of the need to protect Japanese traditions and culture.

Dream of future

One day I would like to become Japan's ambassador for the preservation of traditional culture and tourism promotion.

For the moment I am 30% blacksmith and 70% coordinator and I love both activities.

I hope that foreigners who come here can appreciate the real Japan, with respect so that it benefits the Japanese people.

I am the father of a boy and a girl, my family supports me a lot and I want my children to continue my work after me.

My dream would be to live in a big house with my whole family, like in the cartoon “Sazae san”. I think it is a model of Japan that must be protected because it is the best way to be happy and keep a peaceful country.

If you plan a trip to Kansai, come and meet me at Sakai and discover its treasures of the past and present!