A kamikaze pilot, saved by a stroke of fate, returns to Hiroshima and revives a legacy of samurai industry that continues to endure today.

In a town which has a history of brushmaking that goes back over 150 years, Kyoyudo is a relative newcomer. Its founder, Fujimori Uematsu made his ambitions clear in choosing the Chinese characters for the name of the company he set up in 1978, which mean “brighter than the sun”.

Master brush maker Yasui Teragauchi has been working at Kumano’s Koyudo for almost 40 years. We talked to him about the changes he has seen.

Every year on the Autumn Equinox, the town of Kumano, in the hills east of Hiroshima, gives thanks to the product upon which its prosperity was built. Kumano is the undisputed fude (brush) capital of Japan.