Michio Suzuki

Early years

Suzuki was born on 18 February 1887 (year 20 of the Meiji era) in the village of Nezuminomura (鼠野村), Shizuoka prefecture, a small village of farmers and cotton-weavers. He was named after the historical figure and Shintō deity Sugawara no Michizane. As the son of cotton farmers, Suzuki worked in the fields from the age of seven or eight. However, Suzuki had always preferred more skilled work, so in 1901, at the age of fourteen, he started a seven-year apprenticeship under the strict guidance of the carpenter Kōtarō Imamura.

When the Russo-Japanese War started in 1904, demand for skilled craftsmen was low, and Imamura was forced, along with his apprentice, to take on the work of maintaining the looms on a factory floor. Although Imamura considered this work unfit for a craftsman of his calibre, Suzuki flourished in this role, and it would provide inspiration for his later innovations.