You need 60,000 hours to become a master Takumi craftsman for Lexus

Think you have the skills to become one of Lexus’ master craftsmen or Takumi? The first question they will probably ask, should you plan to apply, is how much experience you have and how many hours you have already spent honing your craft. If you say somewhere around 10,000 or more hours, then you might be an expert at it. But to Lexus and to most Japanese, you are not worthy of being a master craftsman just yet.

In Japan, you’re not considered a master craftsman until you’ve spent 60,000 hours or more refining your skills. According to Lexus, that’s the equivalent of working 8 hours a day, 250 days a year, for 30 years. Only then, can you be considered a Takumi at Lexus or anywhere in the Japan for that matter. 

"The concept of Takumi has physically and philosophically been at the core of the Lexus brand since it started 30 years ago. Our Takumi masters have over 60,000 hours (30+ working years) of experience developing their craft. To celebrate the brand's anniversary year, we wanted to capture the essence of Takumi•and their 60,000-hour journey•on film," said Spiros Fotinos, Head of Global Brand at Lexus International.

Called “Takumi - A 60,000-hour story on the survival of human craft”, the documentary follows four Japanese artisans who have dedicated their lives to the craft including a double Michelin-star chef, a traditional paper cutting artist, a carpenter for one of the oldest construction companies in the world, and an automotive master craftsman for Lexus. The documentary also brings up the question of whether machines will surpass human performance in the future, and whether or not human craft will disappear in the future.

Viewers can enjoy the 54-minute documentary which will soon air on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Instant, Google Play and iTunes. They may also watch the ‘60,000-hour version’ which loops scenes of each Takumi’s essential skills on www.takumi-craft.com. Check out the trailer of the upcoming documentary above.