Hello all! 

It’s an honour for me to be asked by Graham to write what will be a monthly feature about my life and career as a bridal fashion designer in Berlin, Germany.  

I’ve been living in Berlin, since the beginning of 2016. For this first post, I want to introduce my roots and for the second issue in the new year, I want to touch down on my life in London before moving on to my current life in Berlin!

I was born in Kagoshima, Japan. I didn’t have a happy childhood, my parents were abusive, although my mum was later diagnosed with a thyroid issue and once she was on the medication, she was emotionally stable and with a lot of effort on her side, fixed our relationship.

Growing up in an especially conservative part of Japan, I always felt I was living in the wrong place, it was too stifling and never felt accepted for being who I was. I was sure I didn't have a future there.

My dad had a heart attack and died when I was 12, which was an emotionally liberating moment but with it, brought out a lot of anger that I’ve been suppressing all my life. 

It was at the time when I was starting secondary school and my new teacher picked me as a target to bully because I just lost my dad. Years later, she wrote me a letter to apologise and said she did it to relieve the stress she had at the time. I stopped going to school eventually. It was the darkest time in my life.

I’ve been obsessed with dressmaking and fashion ever since I remember watching my mum making my clothes. I wanted to work in fashion for sure, but in my hometown, women shouldn’t have career ambitions.

I also had a fascination with languages. As a little girl, I was frustrated with being monolingual and watched Sesame Street on TV religiously, the only English speaking program we had at the time.

And then, one day, it all clicked. I told myself, I’ll go to London to study fashion! I knew nothing about the UK, the education system etc. It was a pure instinct and was the best decision ever.

My mum didn’t think I’d be in London for more than a year but thought it was good for me to learn English and see the world.

So, in 1996 almost 16 years old, and without a word of English, I took a British Airways flight alone, Tokyo - LHR.