Q.How did you get started making quilts?

When I was 24 years old, I married a man who was 3 years older than me. His mother was 48 and his father was 50. There were also two younger boys and a younger sister in the family. Living in this situation, I had to do work in the home – -similar to a maid. I had a strong sense of self. I developed quite a strong spirit to endure such a difficult situation. I was the type of person who could do everything by myself and I don’t give up easily. If I do it, I do it right! I was a pretty athletic person, so I played volleyball. Maybe, I wanted to escape from that feudalistic family atmosphere of life, even for a very short time. But, my ex-husband was not supportive of this. When I returned home, he closed all shutters and doors and I was not able to enter into the home easily. It was a really tough situation living in a strict household.

Oh my. It’s like a drama.

When I talk about these things, people say, “You should write a novel, teacher!” But, you know, I think these tough experiences made me more positive. Well… going back to your original question. One of my volleyball team members had a “pochette” (translating from French as a small slender shoulder purse) as she rode by on her bike. When I saw her, there was something about the “pochette” red color scheme that really stood out from a distance. I am very interested in colors, so I wondered what she was carrying and when I asked…she told me it was “patchwork!” I thought, “Wow, so this is what patchwork is!” But, I didn’t even like sewing at that time. To be honest with you, I didn’t even want to try to make patchwork, and I quit at the beginning. But then, she introduced me to her class, which gives lessons in how to make a quilt. I decided to give it a try. I thought that it would be easy to make. But, mine didn’t look beautiful at all to me. I carefully planned the color scheme. But, I wasn’t able to do well and I couldn’t get it right. Why? I was so disappointed and frustrated that I tried to make a 2nd one. But the result was same. Then, I decided to make a 3rd quilt. But, it was not good either.

But…Why is that?

I would say, “Brightness, saturation and color intensity.” What I realized was that, this was the cause of the problem. Since I made it with my favorite colors only, my quilt did not give the color images as I intended. Then, I felt frustrated because I couldn’t get it right. I couldn’t find an easy answer, so that is when I decided to seriously learn how to make a quilt. At this same time, my ex-husband had a financial default of ten million. In 1974, 10 million was a very large sum of money. I, too, experienced this financial hardship and I realized I had to somehow work to earn money by myself. I considered my options… When I was young, I was doing Japanese classical dance. That’s why I wanted to do a job that would be beautiful. At this time, I have three children and my youngest child was still in a diaper. Since I was so disappointed and wanted to have some small hope – – a dream to work with something beautiful – – I wanted to do work related to the Kimono! So…I went to two shops in my neighborhood that had Kimono jobs, and I went there for interviews, asking if they would hire me. But, it was not so easy to hire a woman with children. They turned me down. I needed to earn money and my life depended on it. I looked in a very thick telephone book and called nearly 50 numbers of Kimono shops. Continuously, I had been turned down. Finally, one of the last three shops gave me a chance. This Kimono shop dealer met me and gave me an answer right away. At the time, I was actually living in a home with an area of about 3,000 sq.ft. – – which was quite big and very spacious in Japan. It had a lot of tatami rooms. Thankfully, I then exhibited and displayed KIMONO fabrics in my home due to its large size!

―Wow! So in other words, you displayed Kimono fabrics at your home – – and if friends and visitors in town like what they see, then they can purchase Kimono fabrics right away?

Yes, that’s right! I made 5 % percent profit from all sales. I earned JPY 10,000.- at that time, which was a really good amount. I had high priced pieces of fabric that sold. In those days, when you worked for a company – – you might earn JPY10.00 to assemble something at home. I was very, very grateful! Some drapers (KIMONO shops) wanted to sell very, very expensive fabrics to the customers with no regard to individuality. But, I did not like that kind of thing. So after 20 years, I decided to retire from that job and start my own business. At this time, it was related to patchwork… I really wanted to propose fabric designs that fit the customer, that matched their personality, and that the customer would be happy with! For each persons’ individual Kimono, I selected every detailed piece from the HANERI (a detachable neckpiece for kimonos) to the OBIAGE (a long, thin piece of fabric used to secure an obi pillow to the body to give a 3-dimensional shape to an obi knot). My customer said… she was so happy! She said that she was praised by her beauty salon friends for the color selections of her kimono. I am so good at finding the most perfect colored fabrics for each person. I always want to find something that my customers will love!

I understand very well. That is why you are so interested in colors. You know that it is so important for your customers to wear colors that suit them best.

Yes, it is! Of course, if you sell at a high price, you can make a lot of money – – but, selling without looking at their individuality or anything else is not a good idea…And, I do not want to do that! That is how I feel now, similar to the color scheme of my patchwork. Maybe, my color scheme was based on my experiences with Kimonos at that time.

Q. Well now, I would like to hear about all about the new fabrics you designed.

Originally, I had been doing calligraphy since I was in elementary school。 I found the texture of the brush interesting and designed with such lines. Sometimes I design a pattern smaller and color them myself. On other fabrics, I do the design and then the colors are directed by me – again separately. The reason why I started designing this way was because at the time, there were no Japanese fabrics in the colors and designs I wanted. I said, “I want it!” And they said, “Why don’t you make it?” So…I actually made it! I like a flowing line – a moving line, but there were no Japanese quilter artists who used such a design in their quilts. Some people who saw my designs praised it and were very complimentary! “There has never been anything like this in Japan before!” After 3 years, I saw my fabric used in a competition work, which won in the contest. I was so happy to see a fabric that I designed, even if it was only a small part of the work. I was so delighted that they started to use my fabrics to make products!