🇯🇵 Ghent to Tokyo: Stijn De Sutter and the Kamisori Master
There are trips you take to relax.
Then there are the ones you take because something in your craft keeps pulling you further.
Stijn De Sutter went to Tokyo for the second reason.
Not as a tourist, not for sushi and skyline photos, but as a student – to stand in a small barbershop on the edge of the city and learn from Master Sato Shigeyuki: one of the few barbers left who still shaves daily with a real kamisori.
Not a shavette. Not a compromise.
A full blade, the old way.
The shop wasn’t some glossy Instagram fantasy. Just a small, almost anonymous barbershop tucked away in a quiet corner of Tokyo. The kind of place you only find if you’re looking for it on purpose. Inside, everything had that slow, deliberate feel that comes from decades of repetition.
The welcome was warm and understated.
A bow, a smile, an invitation to sit.
Language was a barrier, at least on paper. Their English and Japanese didn’t line up perfectly, but barbers have a different dictionary: hands, steel, eyes, the way someone holds a razor or tilts a head. Between gestures, a few shared words and a lot of mutual respect, they understood each other just fine.
Stijn came to learn two things in particular:
How this master approached the kamisori shave.
And how he carved clean, precise lines around the ear – that small, nervous piece of anatomy most barbers rush past.
Master Sato showed him the blade first. The kamisori doesn’t sit in the hand like a Western straight razor. The balance is different, the movement tighter, the angle less forgiving. Stijn watched as the master moved, slow but efficient, every stroke planned before it touched the skin.
Then came the details.
How to anchor the kamisori so it feels like part of the hand.
How to let the blade follow bone and muscle instead of fighting them.
How to read the sound of steel gliding through hair.
How to approach the ear carefully, with respect, not fear – clearing, stretching, shaving in tiny, controlled movements.
And behind all of it: the sharpening.
Free hand, on stones that looked older than some careers.
Master Sato shared his way of honing a kamisori: slight changes in pressure, subtle shifts in angle, the quiet patience to stop before you’ve gone too far. No honing guides, no tape, no gadgets. Just stone, water and steel – and a lifetime of muscle memory.
Stories started to flow in fragments.
Stijn talked about Ghent, about ROMAIN, about teaching barbers in Europe.
The master talked about years behind the chair, about students, about the slow disappearance of real kamisori work – even in Japan.
Gifts were exchanged the way craftsmen do: razors, small objects, things with weight and meaning. Not souvenirs – symbols.
When Stijn walked back out into Tokyo, he wasn’t just carrying extra tips and tricks. He carried a new respect for the kamisori, a deeper understanding of ear shaving, and a clearer sense of what it means to keep a dying technique alive in a world that keeps trying to replace it.
For him, this wasn’t a once-in-a-lifetime visit.
It was the beginning of a connection.
One thing was certain:
this would not be the last time Stijn De Sutter walked through the door of that small barbershop on the edge of Tokyo.
If you want more than just a good story and you’re ready to sharpen your craft or your own look, you know where to find us.
From straight razor training and honing on natural stone to classic shaves and serious beard work in the chair, ROMAIN Barbershop & Academy in Ghent is where it actually happens – not just where people talk about it.
Want to book a service?
https://booking.optios.net/6064/select-location
Want to follow the journey?
ROMAIN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/romain_ghent
Stijn on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desutter_stijn
Stijn on YouTube (more adventures, more razors, more stories): https://www.youtube.com/@desutter_stijn
For Academy info, courses or questions, send an email to info@romaighent.be – and we’ll take it from there.
