What image comes to mind when you hear the word tradition? Many people likely feel it is something cool and heavy—a culture passed down from ancient times, or a superb, refined skill built through years of diligent practice.
Certainly, tradition remains precious today precisely because of the accumulation of excellent techniques and history. However, looking at the world now, we sometimes feel that the word tradition has drifted away from its original meaning and is being conveniently consumed.
Because it is a word packed with such wonderful history and skill, it is used only when convenient, becoming a mere shell without substance. We feel a strong sense of crisis regarding this current situation.
The word tradition used only when convenient
Looking at the world today, we feel there are too many instances where the word tradition has drifted away from its original meaning and is consumed as just a convenient label or an excuse.
For example, some add phrases like “Japanese tradition” or “sharpness of a Japanese sword” just to make a product look valuable, or use terms like “time-honored methods” or “traditional craftsmanship” to force a justification for their manufacturing rules.
Of course, if the products or services actually live up to those words, there is no problem with the expression. However, we have serious doubts about how much respect for history or technical and scientific evidence actually exists behind those words.
Especially in the knife industry lately, we cannot help but feel that history—which our predecessors risked their lives to build—is being thrown away and used merely as a tool for profit or business advantage without any substance.
Tradition and growth must always go together
We believe that tradition is the fruit of the efforts of our predecessors, who challenged their limits and went through constant trial and error. Therefore, we feel it lacks respect for them if we, living in the present, rely on that name and stop growing by simply repeating the past.
Of course, there are many people today who continue to grow. However, as knives become popular worldwide and sell in large quantities, there is a stronger tendency across the industry to prioritize short-term profit. People end up chasing superficial efficiency and numbers—how many they can sell—rather than focusing on quality or the actual user experience.
We do not believe that accepting this situation and abandoning new challenges or technical improvements can truly be called “protecting tradition.”
Continuous new challenges create the next tradition
To take a new step and continue growing, we must always judge our actions objectively and face our current selves head-on. At times, this means accepting the possibility that everything we have built in the past might be proven useless or completely overturned.
For example, if we discover that a certain process is actually not rational in the modern age, what is the value in stubbornly continuing it just to claim “this is tradition”? We must seriously consider whether such an act truly protects the tradition that will carry on into the future.
This is why we believe that carrying the weight of tradition comes with the resolve and responsibility to accept and create anything new. Tradition is not just something to be protected; it is something that we, living in the present, create ourselves. We believe that never stopping the challenge and continuing to grow is exactly what builds the traditions of the future.
