Smio Satou: Smooth Bent Dublin with Bamboo and Tsuishu Tobacco Pipe

Of all the pipe makers in Japan, Smio Satou is the most Nippon-traditional in his approach to shaping, imbuing each piece with a sense of Nihon katachi(Japanese form and design). The smooth rim is a perfect oval that contains (very) large birdseye, the tobacco chamber is conical and placed in the center of the body, keeping with the Japanese aesthetic of balance. The bowl is wrapped in a flame grain grand enough to stand watch during the Kurama no Hi-Matsuri. In order to keep harmony with the bowl, Satou-san forgoes his signature thin bamboo, utilizing instead a larger, three knuckle piece, and then finishes with the welcomed addition of a tsuishu inlay in the mount.

--R. 'Bear' Graves