The biggest adventure of my life - Maruoyama, Kameoka (Part 2)

Welcome in part 2 of my story about my trip to Japan. Just before I start, I want to tell you that the preparations for my journey were very stressful. I have asked producers to book my return flight week later so I could stay there on my own. That wasn't a problem. The problem was that I didn't know exact dates to one week before my flight. That caused me many organising problems. First of all, I had to book the hotels for the time when I was on my own. I was in Japan in the worst timing for booking hotels, because it was the ''Sakura'' (cherry blossom) season and it was Easter in the UK. Flights were extremely expensive, but I didn't have to worry about it, because Japanese TV was paying for everything, including flights, hotels, food etc, obviously only in the time I was with them. I had to cover all expenses when I was on my own. The other problem was to plan my trip. Producers kept everything in secret, so I couldn't really plan anything. I wanted to go to Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, Sakai and a few other places, but I didn't know where will they take me. Also travelling in Japan by train is quite expensive. One week train pass cost about £200. That is quite a lot. After all, I decided to stay the whole week in Tokyo. I don't regret that decision, because producers took me to all places I wanted to visit:D I can also tell you that everything I wanted to see, all the places I wanted to visit and all things I wanted to learn - all of that happened. Can it be better? Check yourself in my story below.


So I flew to Japan at the end of March. I had a nice flight with a stop in Seoul in South Korea. As you can imagine, that kind of travelling is making you tired and after landing you can only think about going to sleep. On the other hand, I was really stressed. I didn't know what to expect. Once I collected my luggage, I went through the gates and I have noticed the tv crew waiting for me. I have approached them shouting ''Kon'nichiwa'' and I think that I have surprised them. After the short introduction, they asked me to go through the gate again. Hehe. But how can I do that? You can't go back and I was so tired that I only wanted to go to the hotel. I have waited for someone who was going through the gate and quickly went through it:D Did I brake the law? Probably yes, but it was fun. So I went through it again and I was acting like someone unaware of what is happening. They called me ''Grzegorz San'' and I have approached them:D This time was good and I didn't have to do it again. They quickly interviewed me and then we went to the hotel in Kyoto by bus. It was an hour trip, but at that time I was able to chat with my translator Jim. Jim was born in Japan and raised in Chicago. He is a great person and I felt a strong bond with him. Once we arrived at the hotel, I have quickly refreshed myself and then we went to the bar. I was only dreaming about some good food and a beer.

Yusuke ''Jim'' Okada - my translator

Mai Shishihara - director's assistant

Jo Yoda - the director

Inside my hotel:

I have found a gown on my bed in the hotel. I thought that it was kimono:D

On the very next day, we went to Kameoka, near Kyoto. That place is beautiful. We stopped our van next to over 1000 years old huge cedar.

My director asked me to go up the hill without giving me any details. I didn't know what to expect and where I was heading to. After a short walk, I have approached the small house. The guy who was waiting for me was Youzou Tushihashi. He is an always smiling miner in Maruoyama - famous ''Tennen Toishi'' (Japanese natural sharpening stone) mine. The only mine in Japan where stones can be mined from all strata.

After a short introduction, I have talked to Tushihashi San about sharpening stones and his job. He showed me hundreds of stones and I felt like a kid in a theme park. Tushihashi San is the fourth-generation miner. I am not 100% sure about it, but I think that he is also one of the creators of the ''Japan sharpening Culture Promotion Association''. It is really hard to translate. Even if he is not one of the creators, then he is one of the craftsmen. These guys have created the very first sharpening stone museum which is in Kameoka. Here is the link to their website: http://toishi-kan.info/en/index.html

Big stone in the middle cost 500000 yen (about 4400$)

Here is a short walk around in Tushihashi San house and workshop.

Later on, Tushihashi San took me to his mine in his small van. It was a little bit funny because he couldn't speak English and I didn't understand a word in Japanese. There were only two places in a van, so my translator has to go in the other car. Tushihashi San is a great person which is always smiling and laughing. We didn't understand each other, but it didn't stop us from talking to each other in our languages. After arriving at the bottom of Maruoyama, we still had to walk up the hill. Tushihashi San is 68 years old and he was going to the mine very eagerly.

 You can guess that you are close to the mine because there are stones everywhere. I am pretty sure that you could find some good ones between the rejected ones.

 Entrance to one of the Maruoyama shafts

Karasu:

  
Uchigumori layer:

  
Tushihashi San in action:

... and his main tools:

Tushihashi San asked me to help him:

Me and Jouzou after mining huge rock (the one I am holding is only a small stone chipped from the big rock). These stones are over 250.000.000 years old.

Later on, I had a lunch with Tushihashi San on top of the Maruo mountain. That was my first meal in Japan in front of the cameras and I can tell you one thing. It is really hard to be natural while eating and talking in front of a few cameras and many people.

There is a small lake with beautiful colours at the bottom of Maruoyama. It was really hard to capture that on the photo.

After a day in the mine, we went back to Jouzou Tushihashi house and later on our cameraman and an audio man took us to Kyoto. From there we took Shinkansen to Sakai.

The biggest adventure of my life - Prelude (Part 1)

Hello!

I hope that this post will be able to make up for a very long time when I didn't post anything. I believe that the story I want to tell you will be so long that I will have to spread it over a few posts. You are probably wondering what happened to me that I will need a few blog entries to describe it? Let me tell you. The biggest adventure of my life has happened. It happened suddenly without any notice. I will not let you wait anymore. Sit comfortably, get a beer and popcorn or any other favourite snack and read. Before I start, I would like to tell you that my original plan was to write everything with all details but now I think that it would be pointless and that I would have to write a small book in order to fit everything there. Also, it's already over eight months after my adventure and my emotions faded out. This is mostly due to a new job, lack of time etc. That is why I will try to tell you the most important things. Let me start...

 It's already over a year since everything has started but I have a feeling like it was yesterday. Last year, in early April, someone from a company called Tele-Search based in London sent me an email and asked me if I would like to participate in a programme called ''Who wants to come to Japan'' broadcasted in TV Tokyo. This programme is about people with interest in Japanese culture. If the producers think that you are interesting and passionate about Japan, then they can invite you to the country of the rising sun for a dream experience and learn more about your hobby. My first thought was that it was a scam because I was receiving a lot of strange emails before. I decided that probably it's not true and I didn't bother to answer it. A few weeks later I received another email from the same company. They asked me if I received their previous message and also explained that they know my website, blog etc. I have realised that they did some research, which meant that maybe their emails were real. I don't think that any scammer or spammer would spend a time on research just to send stupid emails. Anyway, I have answered and everything started.  They asked me to record a short introduction video. I didn't know what was the concept of the show and I didn't know what to think about it. I have prepared the script for my video and tried to record it, but it was very hard. It is different when you have to speak with somebody and when you have to record a proper introduction video. Also, what I didn't realise, Japanese shows are different from any other in the world. here is the video:

We were exchanging emails and then, few weeks or even months later, I've been asked to come to the Hyper Festival to London to record my first interview. I will try to make the whole story shorter, thus I will not get into too much detail. That was a hard time for me and my passion. In that time I have changed my career and I didn't have a time for knives anymore. I was trying to do things, but everything was going so slow, that at some point I gave up. I have stopped taking any orders because it was causing me more stress than joy. All of my friends were pushing me to go to the programme, but I had mixed feelings. I even didn't know if I will get into the programme. I was struggling with my thoughts and the more I was thinking about it the worse it was getting. I know that it may be strange for some of you because usually, people would do everything to be in my place, but I didn't feel right about it. They have found me because of my passion and it would be a big lie if I got into the programme. I can't talk about things if I am not passionate about them. Especially knives. I hope that you know what I mean. Trust me or not, but with the broken heart, I sent them an email, in which I have explained why I can't participate in the show. My fiancee told me that she is respecting my decision, but probably I will regret it. Guess what? I was really regretting that a week after abandoning the programme. Fortunately, they said that this is an ongoing programme and if I ever change my mind I can always come back. That was September 2017 if I remember correctly.

Later on, in December, I thought that I really messed up and that I have lost once in a lifetime occasion. I was thinking about sending them an email, but I wanted to wait a few days more. Then, a few days later, I received an email from the same company. I couldn't believe what I saw. They asked me If I am sure that I don't want to participate in the show. Obviously, without thinking, I said that I really regret what I did and that I really want to take a chance. From now, everything went very fast. That was in the early December 2017. After a few emails, we have arranged the first recording in my home in the UK. A tv crew from Japan came to Leicester for two days. There were two people in the tv crew and the translator. The director - Jo Yoda, Cameraman - Yukichi Yamamoto and the translator - Miyuki.

Just before their visit, I've been asked to answer many questions and prepare a few things. This is an example of their list:

• Show us your knives and sharpening tools, and explain how you use them etc.
• Demonstrate how to sharpen/polish a Japanese knife
•  Demonstrate cutting vegetables/fish with the sharpened knife.
• The team bring an old blunt knife from Japan for you to sharpen. How long do you think this would take?
• Make a new handle for a knife.
• You cook some kind of Japanese food using your knife?
• You invite some friends over to test your knife – e.g. you make a meal together and they cut up some vegetables for you with your knife.
• Interview with you about your passion for knife-sharpening

I was even asked about more things. As you can see, it was quite a lot to do in only two days. I have decided to prepare properly for that because I wanted to show myself from the best side. I also wanted to make it easier for the tv crew and myself. For example, for the knifemaking part, I have decided to prepare everything in stages, for example,  a knife in three stages: A blank, then recording the grinding process for a few minutes and finally the finished blade. Same with the handle. I made three handles. The first handle was actually made of few pieces of wood glued together. The second one was squared so I could show them only a few minutes of sanding and the third handle was actually a finished product. This way I was able to save myself a lot of time. 

This is the knife I have finished for their visit:

I had a few intensive days of preparation and mess at home. My flat turned into a proper workshop and fortunately for me, my fiancee is tolerating a lot.  The day before recording I had a company Christmas party. I had to go there only for a short moment, but before that, I had a few drinks and then a few at the party itself. I had a little bit too much and it ended with a hangover on the next day. Did it help with stress??? I don't think so. Hehehe. 

We woke up in the morning and were waiting for the tv crew. They had to arrive at 10am. When they arrived I had a quick chat with my translator Miyuki. She said that they want to record a greeting moment. I gave her keys to my block and waited for them. I thought that I am ok, but when I saw a camera from the window I got really stressed. We have recorded a short greeting, introduced ourselves and after that had a nice chat and coffee with the crew. It was quite awkward at the beginning, but later on, I got used to the camera a little bit. They brought two knives from Japan. Obviously both of them in a really bad condition. I've chosen the worst one, which was very rusty Nakiri and I was asked to fix it. They have recorded the whole process. I was stressed about it because usually, I am fixing knives in my free time and I can take my time and focus on what I am doing. I hate when someone is staring at my hands and try to imagine what I felt when three people were staring at me and which were recording me with a big camera. Of course, I had to talk to them at the same time. Talking with them was very unusual for me because the tv crew couldn't speak English at all and everything was translated. Big kudos to Miyuki, who was very stressed about translating because of the vocabulary. She received a list of knife related technical terms a few days before. She did a great job!!!! Really!!  In the meantime, I was explaining what I was doing in details. Later on, I had to cook a meal. First, we were thinking about preparing something Polish, but finally, we decided to make something Japanese. We have prepared miso soup made from scratch with our own fish stock and salmon tartare with sambal oelek sauce, shichimi togarashi spice, ginger and a few other things. I thought that we will eat it on the break with the rest of the crew, but I was asked to eat that with my girlfriend in front of the camera and in the same time we were interviewed. That was super awkward.  We have arranged a scene in the late afternoon which involved my friend Kuba. I have asked him to bring me his knife, which I made for him a few years earlier. I thought that I will repolish it, but I have only managed to sharpen it. The scene was very simple. They were recording me while sharpening the knife and then my friend has visited me to pick up his knife. It was very funny because he didn't expect that they will speak only Japanese and it looked quite funny when he arrived. I gave him his knife, they interviewed him and then we had to scream ''Nippon Ikitai'' to the camera:

We have finished recording after 12 hours. I was so tired that I couldn't believe it. On the following day, I met the tv crew in the Leicester city centre. They went there earlier to take a few shots of the landscapes. Later on, we went to the park to take a very funny shot. I took a huge Ittinomon mioroshi deba with me and an Aiwatani natural stone. I had to run with them towards the camera, stop just in front of it and enthusiastically say why I want to go to Japan and end it up with ''Nippon Nikitai''. It was a beautiful day, but it was quite wet, slippery and cold. I had to repeat that shot three times and after the second one I slept and almost felt to the ground with the huge knife and the stone. We came back home and recorded a few more things. Just before sunset, I was asked to show them how I grind my knives. I have quickly prepared my grinder and showed them the process. We just needed a few minutes. When we finished a bird shat on me and I laughed badly:D There is a superstition in Poland that when birds shit on you then you will have a good luck. Remember that later on:D

These two days were crazy and very exciting as well as very exhausting. We were recording for 12 hours on Sunday and 10 hours on Monday. As I said before, I have tried to keep that story to a minimum but you must know that we were doing a lot of things. The tv crew was also taking a lot of pictures of knives and food. I took a few pictures as well.

 Jo Yoda:

From left to right: The director - Jo Yoda, Cameraman - Yukichi Yamamoto, my fiancee Gosia, translator - Miyuki, Zack - the driver and obviously me on the bottom.

The fact, that the tv crew has visited me didn't mean that I will go to Japan. I knew that they were really impressed, but I had to wait for the decision of the producers.

Later on, on 27th January 2018, a friend of mine who has visited me while we were recording in my home has set me up. He told me, that his friend who is a photographer is looking for an assistant for the wedding and that I can earn quite a lot of money for one wedding. I didn't like that idea, because I don't like this kind of photography, but the idea of earning easy money was quite encouraging. I had to meet him in the city centre of Leicester on Saturday. I went there and I have noticed three people with a huge camera. I passed them and then noticed that it was Miyuki, my translator and their driver Zack. I was speechless. They gave me a ticket to Japan!!! We went back to my home. I wanted to call Gosia, my fiancee, but they didn't let me. I was so surprised that I couldn't believe them and still wanted to call Kuba, because we had to see the photographer. Miyuki told me that it was a set up, but my emotions didn't let me believe that. We came back to my home and has surprised Gosia:D It was a great day!

So this is the end of part one and an introduction to my trip to Japan. I hope that you liked it and please read the end of the story in the next posts. There is 9 posts all together.

Small Gyuto for my trip to Japan

Hello there!!!

Uffff. I have managed to finish this one just on time. I am posting from London Heathrow airport where I am waiting for my plane to Japan. I will participate in a programme called ''Who wants to come to Japan'' which is broadcasted on Tv Tokyo on regular basis. I will give you more details when we will finish filming and when my episode will be released. I will try to take as many pictures as possible out there and then will post everything on my blog.

This knife is one of 7 which I have started a long time ago. I know that handle is a little bit too big and too long for this knife, but I really didn't have time to fix it. The box is made of oak and beech. I will post measurements after I come back. I totally forgot about it. Producers of the programme have asked to take it with me. I hope, that I will have a chance to get some proper critics from master sharpeners or bladesmiths if I meet any.

Thanks for reading...

Saya for my last 200mm gyuto.

At last, I found some time to take of saya bespoke to my last 200mm gyuto. It is made of Claro Walnut and I am more than happy with the end result. Walnut matched almost perfectly with no name wood on the handle. I have also tried a different approach to the pin. I have used brass pin embedded into the walnut. How do you like it? I think, that this is my best knife and saya so far.