Kaz did not inherit this craft. He chose it — radically, and late. After a career as a product planner, he walked away from professional certainty at 48 to pursue the one thing that would not leave him alone: the haunting beauty of European antique jewelry. What followed was not a gentle transition but a full reinvention. He trained with discipline, competed with ambition, and won — earning recognition from Japan's most prestigious jewelry institutions within years of beginning. His is a story not of privilege or lineage, but of conviction. And that conviction is present in every piece he makes.
In time, Kaz turned his attention eastward — toward the ancient Japanese art of metalwork, with its irreplaceable alloys, its philosophy of impermanence, and its insistence on the beauty of things that age. He did not simply add these elements to his Western vocabulary. He allowed them to challenge it, reshape it, and ultimately transform it into something entirely his own. The result is a body of work that speaks two visual languages simultaneously — and in doing so, says something neither tradition could express alone. These are not pieces made for display cases. They are made to be lived with, touched, and passed on.
Awards
Pearl Design Contest: Grand Prix
Crescent Vert Jewelry Design Contest: Design Drawing Prize
JJA Japan Jewelry Design Awards 2004: 2nd Prize, Japan Jewelry Association
Solo Exhibition “Passe Compose” in Ginza
JJDA Japan Art Jewelry Exhibition: "Accepted", Japan Jewelry Designers Association
JJDA Japan Art Jewelry Exhibition: "Accepted"
JJA Japan Jewelry Design Awards 2008: Party Scene "Accepted"
JJA Japan Jewelry Design Awards 2010: Party Scene "Accepted"
Exhibited in Hakone Lalique Museum
SNAG's Contemporary Goldsmithing: Tradition and Excellence "Selected as top 16"
Society of North American Goldsmiths
Publications
Japan
"Four Seasons of Jewelry 2005" CMP Japan
"Original Jewelry Japan vol.4 2006" Matsubara-Kashiwa Books Inc.
"Tokyo Jewelers No.46 2006" Matsubara-Kashiwa Books Inc.
"Tokyo Jewelers No.47 2007" Matsubara-Kashiwa Books Inc.
"Tokyo Jewelers No.54 2008" Matsubara-Kashiwa Books Inc.
"125 Jewelry Artists in Japan" 2009 ART BOX International INC.
United States
"Art Jewelry Magazine January 2014" Kalmbach Publishing Co.
"Art Jewelry Magazine March 2016" Kalmbach Publishing Co.
"Such Capable Hands" by Pat Robinson Schmidt, Orange Hat Publishing
"Showcase 500 Art Necklace" LARK Jewelry & Beading