Master Kenji

Traditional Japanese and Eastern hand-tool woodworking techniques

English-speaking hobby and home woodworkers who want better hand-tool, sharpening and finishing results; titles set 'the West' and 'Americans' against Japanese practice and offer buying advice (inferred from titles, descriptions and the about text).

• Realistic avatar
• A photorealistic senior craftsman presented as a Japanese master: grey hair, short grey beard, indigo work jacket and a patterned blue headscarf, shown waist-up at a workbench holding a chisel, saw or board in a dark wooden workshop.

Long narrated list or comparison: a common Western habit or mistake set against a Japanese master's method (sharpening, joinery, finishes, saws, planes), usually as a numbered set of secrets or mistakes.

• Sharpening chisels and plane blades
• Japanese joinery without nails or glue
• Traditional finishes: wiped oils, persimmon, charred wood
• Japanese hand tools: pull saws, planes, chisels
• Tool buying advice: what to buy and what to skip

• [N] LOST Japanese [skill] Secrets the West Never Learned
• STOP [Western habit] — The Japanese [method] Is [EASIER/Faster] and [better result]
• [N] [X] Mistakes Japanese Masters NEVER Make
• 53 Years of Japanese [X] Advice in 15 Minutes
• The Only [N] [tools] You Actually Need (And [M] Expensive Ones to Skip)

Two looks: the persona waist-up in a dark workshop holding a tool or board, or a side-by-side before/after of wood (amateur vs master, normal vs Japanese); a 2–3 word bold caption in white and yellow, often a red arrow.

• The top video (104,597 views) is about a quarter of the channel's 422,744 total views; its title was used twice, the earlier copy has 9,707
• One consistent angle: 'Japanese' or 'Japan' in 28 of the last 30 titles and in 6 of the 10 most viewed
• A persona with a craft backstory: '53 Years' in 3 titles, one a top video at 13,057 views; descriptions say 'what took me decades to learn'
• High output of long videos: about 5.8 uploads a week, median gap 1 day, usually 17–25 min
• Numbered lists dominate: 13 of the last 30 titles promise a count of secrets, mistakes, skills or tricks