Switzerland-Japan - YŪGŌ (fusion in Japanese), an exceptional project of artisanal collaboration at the highest level

The meeting between thirteen Japanese and Swiss craftsmen

The Iron and Railway Museum of Vallorbe and the Espace Horloger of the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland have chosen to collaborate to carry out an exceptional project: YŪGŌ ("fusion" in Japanese), the meeting between thirteen craftsmen who share common values, as well as between their respective cultures and know-how. The main objectives of this project are to promote national heritage while shaking up codes and getting the best out of each culture by merging know-how around the creation of two extraordinary objects:

• a katana forged by a Japanese master and whose original ore is extracted from former mines in the Risoud forest. The trimming of the saber is made by craftsmen from the Swiss watchmaking world.
• a pocket watch whose movement was designed at the Ecole Technique de la Vallée de Joux. A Swiss watchmaker designs and decorates the movement while a Japanese watchmaker designs the dial decoration.

These two emblematic objects will be unveiled in a traveling exhibition, presented in Switzerland and Japan. They are at the crossroads of different histories: that of the forge, that of watchmaking, those of craftsmen and techniques, those of cultures. They will thus build a bridge between two countries 9,000 km apart but brought together by common values inherent in their technical and artisanal heritage.

After their presentation in the “Yūgō – The Master of Time” exhibition, the watch and the katana will be auctioned off. The money collected following this sale will be used to create a fund whose purpose is to help young Swiss craftsmen to persevere in their craft activity. Because the real treasure of the Yūgō project consists less in the objects it allows to achieve than in the collaboration, beyond all borders, of high-quality craftsmen and the fusion of exceptional know-how.

Participants:

Joseph Currat, (Switzerland) artistic ironworker – steel craftsman
Jean-Marie Corona, (Switzerland) cutler – steel craftsman
Taro Asano, (Japan) sword smith – katana part craftsman
Coralie Mercier, (Switzerland) engraver – katana craftsman
Sophie Meylan, (Switzerland) enameller – craftsman part katana
Zénon Van Damme, (Belgium) polisher, lacquerer – craftsman part katana
Yuri Rindlisbacher, (Switzerland) jeweler-jeweler, art cutler – craftsman part katana
Masahiro Kikuno, (Japan) watchmaker – artisan watch part
Philippe Narbel, (Switzerland) Watchmaker, skeleton builder, angler – watch part craftsman
Philippe Dufour, (Swiss) master watchmaker – watch expert
Daniel Gony, (France) collector – katana expert
Patrick Michel, (France) saber restorer – expert and katana craftsman
Cédric Russo, (Switzerland) head of photography
Jeandaniel Bodenmann, (Switzerland) cabinetmaker – manufacture of watch and katana box

Follow the project on

https://www.facebook.com/yugoproject/

https://www.museedufer.ch/fr/blog/projet-yugo