khashy
Senior Member
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2016
- Messages
- 1,327
- Reaction score
- 544
I think we as a knife community have always known that the craftsmen and craftswomen making knives in Japan are not massively well paid and that of the final price a customer pays for a knife, only a small percentage of it makes its way to the actual craftspeople.
However I do not think we realised just how small a percentage that is and therefore we do not have an appreciation of the financial pressures they face.
Things like a piece of equipment breaking for example are absolutely catastrophic both in terms of production time it costs the craftspeople and the actual cost of repair.
Of course money (or lack there of) is never an easy subject to talk about and especially given the fact that these people are artisans, we have never heard anyone bring this topic to light - they just deal with it best they can.
Konosuke have always tried to look after the well fare of the craftspeople they work with and support them, however there’s only so much they can single handedly do and the funds at their disposal are not infinite.
Therefore Kosuke-san (president of Konosuke) has decided to launch a membership/fan club initiative to help this situation.
All funds from this program will be directed towards supporting the craftspeople that make the knives we are all so passionate about.
The perks include getting the inside track on everything that is happening behind the scenes in addition to special projects and the like. You can also imagine if there were special project knives being released for example, the members would very likely get informed first.
Most importantly though for members is the fact that we’ll know we are helping the livelihood of the people without whose passion, skill and dedication our hobby would not be possible.
This is my take on the whole thing and I think it is a fantastic project that actually benefits everyone in the end.
Kosuke-san made a post about this which I reposted on my Instagram account with his permission
Konosuke Membership
Btw, while I wholeheartedly support this program, I am not sponsored by or affiliated with it; I have previously provided Kosuke-san with my thoughts regarding this but this is entirely ran and organised by Konosuke.
I will of course do everything I can to help this cause as I truly believe in it. I’ll certainly be signing up as soon as they go live.
However I do not think we realised just how small a percentage that is and therefore we do not have an appreciation of the financial pressures they face.
Things like a piece of equipment breaking for example are absolutely catastrophic both in terms of production time it costs the craftspeople and the actual cost of repair.
Of course money (or lack there of) is never an easy subject to talk about and especially given the fact that these people are artisans, we have never heard anyone bring this topic to light - they just deal with it best they can.
Konosuke have always tried to look after the well fare of the craftspeople they work with and support them, however there’s only so much they can single handedly do and the funds at their disposal are not infinite.
Therefore Kosuke-san (president of Konosuke) has decided to launch a membership/fan club initiative to help this situation.
All funds from this program will be directed towards supporting the craftspeople that make the knives we are all so passionate about.
The perks include getting the inside track on everything that is happening behind the scenes in addition to special projects and the like. You can also imagine if there were special project knives being released for example, the members would very likely get informed first.
Most importantly though for members is the fact that we’ll know we are helping the livelihood of the people without whose passion, skill and dedication our hobby would not be possible.
This is my take on the whole thing and I think it is a fantastic project that actually benefits everyone in the end.
Kosuke-san made a post about this which I reposted on my Instagram account with his permission
Konosuke Membership
Btw, while I wholeheartedly support this program, I am not sponsored by or affiliated with it; I have previously provided Kosuke-san with my thoughts regarding this but this is entirely ran and organised by Konosuke.
I will of course do everything I can to help this cause as I truly believe in it. I’ll certainly be signing up as soon as they go live.
