Prior to learning the trade, Watanabe-san was a backpacker with an insatiable hunger for traveling the world and an aversion to settling in a steady occupation and a life of routine and tedium. Like most talented shoemakers, he loved shoes from an early age and always had a dream to design and create his own shoes in a classic style. However, it was only when backpacking brought him face to face with a master Japanese shoemaker with more than 50 years of experience in 2004 that he soon became hopelessly drawn to the art of shoemaking and ultimately decided to learn it for himself. Even then he was only willing to spend downtime between part time jobs at the workshop, but nevertheless he kept returning day after day, eager to hone his craft.
