I was born and raised in Kosai, a small city beside Lake Hamana in Shizuoka, Japan.
The lake was always there, just outside my home.
Some days its surface was calm and crystal clear.
On others, it was rough, dark, and clouded by the weather.
Though it was always the same lake, its appearance changed constantly
with the seasons and conditions around it.
I grew up watching those ever-changing landscapes every day.
When it came time to name my brand, I struggled.
At the time, I carried a great deal of negativity toward myself.
I found it difficult to recognize my own value, and I felt a strong resistance
to putting my own name on the instruments I created.
Looking back, perhaps it wasn't simply a lack of confidence.
Perhaps I had not yet learned how to accept myself.
As I continued building prototypes and watching my instruments gradually take shape,
I began to realize something.
Everything I had experienced.
Everything I had learned.
The people I had met.
Even the failures and hardships I would rather have forgotten.
All of it was naturally finding its way into my work.
Growing up surrounded by wood.
Falling in love with music.
Studying instrument making.
Learning metalworking and design.
Building instruments at night while working a full-time job during the day.
None of these experiences were separate.
Without realizing it, they had become the foundation of everything I create.
That was when I began to feel that my approach to craftsmanship
might simply be a reflection of my life itself.
And that realization brought me back to the image of Lake Hamana,
which had always been there beside me.
The name Minamo means “the surface of the water.”
To me, however, it is much more than the name of a landscape.
It represents embracing every experience life brings—
joy and sorrow, success and failure—
and allowing those experiences to become part of what I create.
This philosophy is reflected not only in the name, but also in the logo itself.
Inspired by the ripples and movement found on the surface of water,
the logo was created as a symbol of a life that is constantly changing
and of the connections we build with others along the way.
It remains an important symbol of Minamo Guitars today.
Through this journey, I came to understand
that no single experience has the power to define who I am.
Events simply exist; they are not inherently good or bad.
And when I stopped rejecting those experiences
and began accepting them as part of my life,
I felt that I was finally able to accept myself as well.
Like the surface of water, life is constantly changing.
Some days are calm.
Others are turbulent.
Some are clear.
Others are clouded.
Yet all of them belong to the same water.
Minamo Guitars embraces every experience life offers
and transforms it into craftsmanship.
This belief remains at the center of everything I create today.
Rather than chasing trends or predetermined answers,
I strive to give form to the ideas and feelings that arise naturally from within.
That is what instrument making means to me.
Minamo Guitars is not simply a brand.
It is an ongoing reflection of a life lived,
experienced, accepted, and expressed through craftsmanship.
Shunya Miyazaki