Alex Horikitsune Reinke’s master was Horiyoshi III, Nakano Yoshihito from Yokohama Japan. He went there for 17 years as a satellite apprentice, travelling back and forth twice a year. The count of Japan trips is now at 46. After dedicating himself to the master and serving him loyally all those years, the apprenticeship ended suddenly in summer of 2015 with Alex being discharged of the family, for basically not being able to cater to the masters needs, due to his own severe personal family issues at the time. Horiyoshi III now only has his own son as an apprentice and heir. All the other 20 plus students in the excentric masters life he also cut ties with completely over the decades.

Historically the meeting between the two happened somewhat like this.

Alex’s early love for Japan and its culture, (he went on his first trip to Japan in 1991) finally brought him to the masters studio in 1997 to start his traditional Japanese bodysuit with him. Horiyoshi III liked Alex’s interest in everything Japanese so much that he enjoyed teaching him about all sorts of Japanese traditions very early on. The masters plans to extend his family towards the west was one of the reasons he proposed an apprenticeship to Alex in a cab in London while on a visit in Europe in 1999. After meeting Alex’s parents to talk about the ‘adoption’ into Horiyoshi III’s family the long journey as his apprentice had begun. Since Alex’s German family name is Reinke ,(which is an ancient German name for Fox and he has 2 crowned Foxes in his family crest), Horiyoshi III agreed to Alex’s wish to carry the master name of ‘Horikitsune’, which translates to ‘The Carving Fox’. Alex will carry this title indefinitely. The relationship between the two was always very close and there was a heart to heart understanding and communication that lead to an intense friendship, which Alex will always cherish and never forget.