Artisan continue to refine their skills along with the blades
Since its founding, Ubukeya has not only continued selling its own products and performs processing adjustments and repairs in the backyard workshop, but also maintaining products purchased from other stores.
There are many stores that only repair products bought in their own store, however we accept any products. Yutaka Yazaki, who is the eighth generation master, and his son, Daiki, takes care of the repairs and delivers to the customer. "We adjust the details according to the customer’s request such as how the blade is attached and the thickness of the blades to be thinner or thicker in detail.”
For generations, it has been decided to start training as an artisan only after graduating from school. “Rather than helping out a little bit while being a student, he will train every day after graduating from school. My son has been doing this for about 10 years now. Thankfully, in my case, I was fortunate to have a training place. Nowadays there aren't places to do general grinding, I feel sorry he is stuck with his annoying father all day (laughs).” Yutaka does the rough work of grinding and Daiki does the finishing, and the two of them work together to make a quality product.
The shape of the blade is basically set, but the process of getting there is led by the discretion of the individual. "Ultimately, we have a line or a perfect thickness of the blades we must aim for to be a product, but the process can vary from person to person to some extent. I too make some arrangements from what I learnt through my training days." By aiming for a better product and pursuing his own style, he is able to hone his skills as an artisan.
