I’m originally from Osaka, Japan, and grew up watching my parents who had worked in the fashion industry. I loved sewing, crafting, and cooking even in my childhood. Retrospectively, I think my parents with creative jobs had significant influences on my artistic interests. No matter what, I really loved crafting handmade items.

After graduating from a university in Japan, I worked at an advertising firm for about a year. However, my health gradually deteriorated in trying to manage the intense workload; I eventually had to quit the job. While thinking about my future career and life, I was inspired by my mother, who worked globally as a fashion designer. Eventually, I decided to move to the United States. I did not have a detailed plan on what to do after coming to the United States, but I wanted to see overseas and test my abilities. I chose New York as my destination, as it is a city with many artists. I was 24 years old at the time.

One day, a while after I came to New York, an idea to make some ceramics suddenly emerged. I decided to attend the local ceramics classes in New York run by a Japanese owner. There was no particular reason or plan for this either; it just came to me one day. It was a pretty similar situation in which people think, “Maybe I should start going to the gym.” In those classes, I learned about ceramics from scratch. I had no knowledge and experience of ceramics whatsoever until then.

A few years after I started joining the classes, the owner asked me if I was interested in becoming an instructor for the same classes. I accepted the offer and started teaching. I had been teaching for about three or four years, but due to the pandemic, the class operations were temporarily suspended. On top, my two daughters were young back then. Those conditions made me put my teaching job on hold. However, I continued my crafting activities while my children were asleep or when they were at school.

Meanwhile, through my friends and personal network, I started to get several offers to sell my ceramic pieces to flower shops and restaurants or on consignment. There was a time when I was proactively marketing my products myself, but thanks to everyone’s support, I was able to rapidly develop a sales network.