Meeting Togishi Hitoaki

[Emil]

I had the pleasure of meeting Manazu Hitoaki today and watching him work in his home in Osaka. It was a fascinating experience that significantly deepened my understanding of the sword polishing process.

 

Despite his immense skill, he is very humble and spoke only a little English. Fortunately, his apprentices were more than happy to translate and quickly mentioned that he is one of the finest sword polishers in Japan.

 

Some interesting facts stood out during the visit: Hitoaki learned the art of polishing from his father at the age of 15 and has been improving his craft for 58 years. Hundreds, if not thousands, of blades have passed through his hands. Currently, the demand for his services is so high that customers face a two-year wait. He works diligently, more than 10 hours a day, to complete each sword on time.

His rate is 20,000 JPY per sun (1.3 inches/3 cm).

One of his apprentices eagerly explained the process and the stones used. He has been training under Hitoaki for eight years but still considers himself a beginner. He mentioned that he wouldn't charge more than 8,000 JPY for the same polish as his master.

As an amateur knife sharpener myself, I was curious about how they maintain the niku of the blade during polishing. They explained that they work on a very narrow section of the blade at a time, gradually transitioning down the convex surface toward the edge in small increments. Each section is completed before moving on, rather than working in long sweeping motions.

 

Their ability to assess a blade with such precision is astounding. The apprentice handed me a blade and asked me to hold it to the light, pointing out that it was uneven. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't see any imperfections. It really highlights the incredible attention to detail required in this craft. Much of their skill is visual; they don’t count their strokes on the stone but continuously check the blade until they are satisfied with the result. It’s quite remarkable.

Hitoaki shared that, despite his best efforts, he has never delivered a sword with a perfect polish, there’s always something he feels could have been improved. He also mentioned that, though the old grandmasters are long gone, he continues to learn from them by studying the swords they polished. This is a vital part of his work, as he strives to adapt his polish to each blade, taking into account its era and style. If the current polish is good, he aims to replicate it in the same way.

 

A very interesting experience that I won't forget.

[Tohagi]

Fantastic experience ! 

Thank you for sharing !

 

That blade was yours'?

 

Best regards, 

 

Éric VD 

[Emil]

 

1 hour ago, Tohagi said:

That blade was yours'?

 

I wish it was! The blade I held was one that one of his apprentices was working on, an early Edo era sword.

 

The other one Hitoaki was working on we didn't talk about, but I'm assuming it's a very expensive one. With so much demand for his skills, he needs to draw the line somewhere, so he only works with the finer swords.

 

One funny thing I forgot to mention. I asked one of the apprentices why he started learning this art. He said it's because he is a martial arts teacher, in iaito, battojutsu, etc. and it's a good extension of his business to be able to provide polishing for his students.

 

He went on to explain that he uses a Muromachi era katana for cutting. Which I mentioned would never be done in Europe or USA. It was the first time he heard that the Chinese make fully working shinken for as low as 120 USD, they were laughing and couldn't believe it. I went on to show them some pictures of ryansword which they were not impressed by, other than the low price.

 

Later on we went to the club and tried some tameshigiri cutting with that Muromachi katana. It was very beat up and slightly bent halfway down the blade. It was still a cool feeling to cut with a 500-600 year old katana. And the coolest part was probably to meet their grandmaster, in his 80s, he's a descendant from a long line of Samurai who has passed the swords skills down, dating all the way back to the Edo period.

[kissakai]

A very nice report - thanks

 

[ROKUJURO]

There is nothing better than hands-on experience! Thank you!

[chinaski]

Thanks for sharing!  How cool!  

[Oldman]

 

Thanks!

Michael BC

[Jussi Ekholm]

Thanks for the report Emil, must have been a wonderful experience.