KEN KAGEURA
Echizen, Kochi, Japan
“I’d rather fish these days than work in the forge,” Ken Kageura told me years ago on a visit to Yusuhara on Shikoku Island.
I get it. He’s been working as a blacksmith since he was 16 years old which means he’d been sweating and pounding steel for 61 years. Imagine having the same job for 61 years. I would be tired, too.
Born in 1941 to a blacksmithing family, Kageura-san tells me he had no choice but to be a blacksmith. He is the 25th generation in his blacksmithing lineage, and, sadly, he is the last. Nobody wanted to take over from him. Part of the reason for that, he tells me, is that he has always preferred to work alone. He tried, but never took to having employees or apprentices. And now that he has retired, his unique techniques for making Damascus steel may die.
He creates blades that look like old swords, with very thin, almost hair-like layers of steel. When his knives are new, the Damascus pattern is subtle, but as the different layers of steel oxidize with use and build a patina, incredible patterns appear. Each type of steel changes colour differently, and you never know what your blade will look like until it ages. That is part of the fun.
Kageura-san prefers Aogami #2 carbon steel, clad with his unique Damascus steel made from recycled materials. In the corner of his workshop, there is still a pile of discarded carbon steel items: Rakes, shovels, saw blades, hoes, drill bits. This is the raw material he used for his kitchen knives, hunting knives, and axes. The technique is very old and has been practiced in this area for ages.
I truly love Kageura-san’s work and I will be buying as many knives and axes as he makes during his “retirement”. I will cherish my Damascus steel axe made by this master. Maybe the next time our paths cross, we will be on a Tosa river, with our fly-fishing rods.
