I loved beauty (tea ceremony, Ikebana, Western-style flower arrangement, architecture, ballet), delicious food (kaiseki cuisine), new things (intercultural), and fun (hospitality, communication with people) since I was a kid.
My favorite subjects from elementary to high school are sub-subjects, especially physical education, home economics, and calligraphy. I vaguely wanted to teach a tea ceremony or flower arrangement in the future, but I couldn't think that they would be my job. I was not good at Japanese, and I was relatively good at math, English, and physics, so I decided to take an entrance exam for a science course at Kyoto University in the future. I just wanted to live by myself in Kyoto, learn a tea ceremony and flower arrangement, and visit temples and shrines. I was a little interested in the Faculty of Architecture because it seemed to be fashionable for me. However, my mother said that the architectural industry was difficult for women to go with and that the faculty of pharmacy would be a better choice if I was not sure what I wanted to study. I entered the faculty of pharmacy at Kyoto University.
Entered the pharmaceutical industry as it was, and spent 14 years as a medical writer in drug development. I was interested in achieving something for a common purpose with my colleagues, looking up literature and guidelines, looking at data, understanding, theoretically constructing, and writing accurate and concise sentences. However, I have never been interested in the medical treatment itself. I spent all my spare time and energy on my hobbies, a tea ceremony, Ikebana, flower arrangements, cooking, and traveling abroad.
After I got married and had children, I was spending much time doing house chores and parenting except for work, which made it harder for me to have time to do what I liked. I started thinking vaguely that I wished I could have done what I liked. By belonging to the Urasenke Philadelphia during my childcare leave, I got to know that there were non-Japanese who were interested in Japanese culture. I started thinking that I would like to introduce my favorite Japanese culture (tea ceremony, Ikebana, or cooking) to non-Japanese people sometimes.
After returning to Japan, I started to learn cha-kaiseki in Hamamatsu and was fascinated by the beauty and deliciousness of cha-kaiseki. I would like to share cha-kaiseki filled with Japanese aesthetics with Americans who are interested in Japanese aesthetics and would like to have a good time.
Four and a half years after I started thinking about introducing Japanese culture to non-Japanese in the United States, I finally decided to take a step forward. I am not sure whether it will work, but it's something I like, so I'll do my best.
I know that cha-kaiseki is wonderful, so I can tell people how wonderful it is. I believe that the enjoyable heart will transfer to people when I really enjoy myself. I would like to thank the guests for giving me a good time. Hopefully, the guests will enjoy something from their point of view and have a good time.