After gaining experience at MIKIMOTO, the most famous jewelry company,
Mr. Sakamoto produced Jewelry for the Japanese Royal Family.
He has many outstanding traditional skills and is always searching to acquire new techniques.
He has been selecteded as "Master Craftsman", and has been given numerous other titles by the Japanese government.
He also sees his role as a teacher and strives to cultivate an interest in craftsmanship in the next generation.
"Yet I enjoy the challenge of creating fine pieces of jewelry with a modern design while maximizing my technique and skills, which is very rewarding."
Mr. Sakamoto's studio, located in a quiet residential area in uptown Tokyo, is covered with glass like a modern showroom. He sat and worked in the back of the studio. Unlike a typical image we might have of "Edo Artisans" or "Modern Masters", Mr. Sakamoto looked more like a fashionable man in a plaid shirt with a colorful scarf around his neck. His face suddenly became serious once he started talking about his work.
Mr. Sakamoto is one of a very few craftsmen who can handle a special technique called Uchidashi *1(hammer out). He explained that the technique originated in Egypt at the time of Tutankhamen, and during the Kofun (ancient mound/tomb) period in Japan." One of the most historic works is "Sugari-no-Ontachi *2" (literally a beautifully decorated sword), one of the treasures of Ise Jingu (the Grand Shrine) that is reproduced every 20 years at the renovation of Ise Jingu. Mr. Sakamoto has an in-depth knowledge of his specialty and talks very gently, almost lovingly about these treasures. His warm attitude extends to his pupils and trainees from other studios with whom he generously shares his artistry.
Mr. Sakamoto is known as a reviver of the legendary technique known as "Awaho-no-Giho" (engraving ears of millet). The technique, expressing golden harvest on the iron and red copper base, was thought impossible to be revived.It was born 140 years ago but then disappeared completely.
When asked about his relationship to SHINKO STUDIO, Mr. Sakamoto responded, "They were so unique, and I found it very difficult to produce actual jewelry from their design sketches." Careful planning accounts for 80% of making a fine piece of jewelry" Mr. Sakamoto emphasized. Each tool, even a tagane (cold chisel) has to be adjusted for every curve. By imagining the next step in your head, your hands begin to move unconsciously, then you become an independent craftsman. You can see the same spirits as Edo artisans in the modern master's lesson.