Philosophy

Being a designer and art director means constantly adapting to changing technologies, trends and business demands. Yet, it also means staying true to oneself and obeying creative impulses. While creating everything from static graphics to interactive experiences, I have come to appreciate the unique challenges of every new project. In addition to all things art and design, I love architecture, midcentury modern stuff , Russel Wright pottery, travel and panoramic views.

My Story

My story started in Gifu, Japan where I was born, but shifted to Tokyo in the 90’s when I moved there to study art and design. Because my Mom is a jazz pianist and my Dad runs a company that produces traditional futons and cushions, I was raised to appreciate the craft of design and all forms of creative expression. From my teenage years, I was given many unique educational opportunities, including chances to travel abroad and experience different cultures firsthand. Each place I visited, new things opened my eyes to the world of art and design.

As a student at Musashino Art University,  I was fortunate to have a great mentor in professor Kazuko Koike. ‘Koike Sensei,’ who was the head curator of the Sagacho Art Exhibit Space as well as the Creative Director at MUJI, inspired me to become a licensed contemporary art curator. During my graduate studies, this led to me being selected to help curate the French artist Soffie Calle’s "Douleur exquise" exhibition at the Hara Museum of  Contemporary Art in Tokyo in 1999. Working closely with this internationally renowned contemporary artist influenced my philosophy toward art and showed me how much work and thought goes into every artwork.

Due to my interest in design, and because there were very few art curation jobs in Tokyo at the time, I decided to stay focused on my graduate studies in fashion. Post-graduation, this led me to take a job with Japan’s premier women’s shoe maker - ‘Himiko.’ Though I enjoyed the fast-paced world of creating seasonal shoe collections and seeing my designs turned into real objects, I continued to follow fields like contemporary art, graphic design, and the quickly emerging field of web design. 

Though my time in fashion went quickly, I learned a lot about how things are produced as well as the dynamic relationship between creative design and retail demands. It was during my last winter at Himiko that I had a life-altering experience during a trip to London. Hanging out at a famous ‘Mods’ bar in Soho, I bumped into a man and said ’sumimasen’ (excuse me) in Japanese. Luckily, because he was also visiting London from Tokyo, he understood what I said. We started talking and discovered that we shared a similar love for art and design. As fate would have it, we’ve now been married for 15 years!  

Inspired by my husband’s art, I decided to follow my most passionate interests and shift my career from fashion design to web design. I believed that the digital world offered more creative opportunities and would allow me to dictate my own path forward. I also returned to art projects in Tokyo. 

After gaining valuable skills as a web designer for several years at a tech startup, I landed the web master position at Pantone.jp and Pantone-store.jp in 2005. Connecting my interests in fashion, art and design, it was extremely rewarding to work for a company whose products I also loved. For the next five years, I was able to work closely with the Pantone USA team as well as designers around the world. Everything was coming together. 

Unfortunately, the winter of 2011 happened. Just weeks after my husband began chemotherapy for a rare blood cancer, the Great East Japan Earthquake shook up Japan and our lives. So that my husband could continue to work during his illness, we established a joint design company, ‘High Design Office.’ Working remotely for clients in Japan, Australia, the U.K. and the U.S., my husband provided content strategy and copywriting while I built digital assets such as visual graphics, branding and UX deliverables. 

10 months later, I was granted a U.S. Green Card and my husband’s cancer fortunately went into remission. He got a great doctor at Fred Hutchinson through an introduction from his Japanese doctor, who suggested we live in America while his health was still at risk (5 years). As soon as I moved to Seattle, I had a chance to work as visual designer for Amazon.co. jp. Working with a lot of interesting and talented people, I couldn’t believe my luck. I knew that Amazon was where I wanted to stay. However, after two years working as a contractor on the Amazon Visual Experience Design team, I had to take a three-month break before starting a new contract. 

Fortunately, my leave from Amazon turned into a 6-month opportunity to work as an animator and UX designer for a company called Splainers. After working on projects for organizations like Enerplus and Stanford University, I was called back to work at Amazon Creative Services. 

This time, instead of mainly doing visual design for the JP site and Japanese market, I was able to join the Amazon U.S. team. Though this is a challenge because my English is still developing, I couldn’t be happier. Taking part on important projects such as the Electronics Gift Guide (EGG), I’ve been able to expand both my visual design and art direction skills. In particular, I’ve been enjoying working on photo shoots and helping to develop project style guidelines. 

I hope that the next chapter of my life adventure is about all the contributions I make to Amazon D1 as a visual designer and art director.