Pierre Nadeau, Swordsmith apprentice
Originally from Canada, Pierre Nadeau is a fifth year traditional swordsmithing apprentice in Western Japan.
Pierre’s Master and Mentors
Kiyota Jirokunietsu, Japanese Swordsmith
Kiyota is responsible for having allowed Pierre into the world of japanese swords. He has recently become less active as a swordsmith.
Manabe Sumihira, Japanese Swordsmith
Manabe trained originally with Living National Treasure Miyairi Akihira, years after Kawachi had completed his apprenticeship. But after only a year, Miyairi had passed away, forcing Manabe to come to Kawachi to complete his training.
He is now famous in Japan for his immense effort in researching and recreating steels of old, as well as for his generosity in teaching and for his sword imagery skills.
Okawa, Japanese Toolsmith / Swordsmith
Mr.Okawa is a third generation forestry toolsmith. He is now semi-retired, but passionately continues forging everyday! In recent years, he succeeded in obtaining his swordsmithing licence with the blessing of Kawachi Kunihira.
His skills at toolsmithing are fairly impressive, and his being a real man of the trade makes him a lot more down to Earth and efficient than some swordsmiths will ever be!
Sekiyama Kazumichi, Japanese Sword Polisher
The classic case: young and talented.
Kazumichi has the right mindset and patience required to properly learn, and perform in this trade. He also happens to be good at oshigata, or sword tracing.