Life of a Japanese Joinery Woodworker

Ikuo Yoshino is a Japanese joinery woodworker based in Chiba.
After graduating from a woodworking major, he spent a few years trying to find himself. This artistic wandering eventually led him to the US, where he finally found the purpose of his art and decided to follow his dreams in wood crafting.
Have a glimpse of Ikuo Yoshino’s Japanese woodworking journey.


About the Essence of Japan
Essence Of Japan exists to inspire and entertain people while showing another side of Japanese culture and traditions. Essence Of Japan delivers inspirational and emotional content as we believe in the importance of listening to others’ experiences.

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[DavidinSetouchi]

I love what he says about wooden objects not being at their best when they're new, but after they've been used for a while, received a few scratches and gained their personality and uniqueness.

[barkebaat]

2:41 - "Despite these hurdles, I didn't want to give up. Instead, I decided to keep going, no matter what direction my art would take."

This resonates with me. I've been a furniture maker / cabinetmaker / woodworker / carpenter for 30 years now and second only to my love of making useful and sometimes even beautiful things of wood is my insistence that 'this is what I want to do!'

Respect and regards from a Norwegian woodworker

[RGRGJKK]

Pura vida mi hermano excelente trabajo lo felicito y me alegra que combine el uso de herramientas manuales le otorga un caracter mas humanos a sus creaciones porque un objecto de madera solo transformado por herramientas eletricas para mi no tiene el mismo significado. Pura vida saludos a todos

[maximilianosoldani]

Muy bueno su video, excelente trabajo y espectacular su taller, lo felicito y espero pueda publicar más videos, saludos desde Argentina

[tomowens]

Dear Yoshi-san I enjoyed this video and appreciated your journey as mine was similar. For me woodworking gives me peace and joy which makes it religion.
Unless one is very well established it’s hard to sell the custom art we make. People don’t understand the hours we put into creating beauty or the high cost of wood. The cost of machinery we acquire be it power or hand tools also escapes the average customer. So we toil on to appease our soul. It’s the way of wood or any such craft.

[ДмитрийРубизов-фн]

Вы умница. Желаю вам новых идей и здоровья.

[embracingchagall]

Beautiful video. So personal. Thanks💓👏

[JuanRuiz-ecvj]

I can feel the special feeling you´re trying to create, good job.

[NealeOBrien]

You produced some beautiful work sensei! I would have loved to train as a daiku san in Japan. The beauty of their work is just amazing! Thank you for your video.

[Xplor]

I’m taking detailed notes, thank you for sharing this !

[clearcut]

Japanese is very good at story telling, and making something look majestical.

[nagadoogardening]

Your production quality is through the roof! Yoshino's story resonates deeply with me. I'm curious to see how you interviewed him - interviewing people well is a true skill. I'm excited to see what else you create, and I just *know* your work will go big one day! Cheering you on ~

[anaholt]

Awesome video. Inspiring stories. Please keep finding these talented artists for us.

[byOldHand]

Such an amazing story, very inspring 🌟🙏🏻 thank you for sharing with us.

[kingy]

All cultures have craftspeople of great skill. The Japanese seem to have a monopoly on them though.

すべての文化には、優れた技能を持つ職人がいます。 しかし、日本人は彼らを独占しているようです。

[ashy]

Beautiful workmanship
Good Luck to you and your future.
Respect and best wishes.
Ash from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[Honyakker]

Beautiful video! Subtitling is good, but I think there's a mistake: I think Yoshino-san said that he used "clear" or "knot-free" (無垢) lumber, not "scabrous aphananthe, " a species that is not used to produce lumber.

[timking]

Your story is a familiar one to me, I respect your courage to go on

[MrOumboon]

J'adore, merci de partager la passion de ce monsieur qui est tellement inspirant. Magnifique et envoûtant pays que le Japon.

[barkebaat]

5:01 - Interesting joint ! (in the centre)
3-way alternating splines ?