Akihira
Swordsmith
What does “Clothing” mean to you?
It is sometimes the external face of my internal self, and sometimes a way to hide my internal self.
What does “Contemporary Life” mean to you?
During the declaration of the state of emergency, when I wake up I start a fire and create a work.
When I get a handle on these tasks, I eat, take a bath, take a walk as I gaze at the night sky, and go to sleep.
Sometimes I go down the mountain to take in the air of Tokyo, where I meet only with the people I want to meet, and then create another work.
I was able to live such a lifestyle, so it seemed acceptable to me.
What are the things you are thinking about lately?
The iron I use for my work is a very delicate old iron, the properties of which can be changed by a single blow of the bellows. To temper that delicate steel in a potent and captivating way, concentration and the health to support it are very crucial. However, it is desirable to be in "the same state of health all the time," or better yet, "in a condition where I don't have to think about whether I am in good or bad physical condition," a condition that never changes.
Every day, the moment I enter the forge, I forget everything that happened outside and my mind goes blank. When forging bright red iron, a moment of explosive concentration comes along every 10 minutes or so, but until then, I would rather not think about anything, only my body moves on its own.
I wonder if it is more important to be able to have a big void where I don't think about anything than to be thinking about something.