Q. We reviewed your Website and found that your designs are so unique and original. Additionally, your quilts seem to have a high fashion style and painting feel to them. Will you share with us your design concepts?

Originally, I started with quilting as the basis of my work, so I was not a painter or involved with any other artistic activity such as drawing or painting.
There are various categories of quilts, such as traditional quilts, contemporary quilts, Japanese quilts, and decorative quilts. There are also message quilts, such as “Against War” or “Let’s Protect Nature.”
These quilts are also a big international category.
Among these categories, I started to think about which category I would like to create first.
I think along the lines of a category, and from there I try to incorporate into the quilt what I see and feel – – such as music I like, nature, travel, scenery, and so on.
I try to think roughly about this as a basis and after repeating additions and subtractions to it – – to complete the design – – I replace it with fabric and produce it!
As a concept, I follow the categories and replace them with what I see. That is how I proceed with production!

Oh I see! I did not know that quilts were categorized in this way until now! Thank you for this information, as it will be easier to understand the design of quilts much clearer now.

Yes, it will! When looking at quilts, it is interesting to look at them in different ways, such as: This is a Japanese Quilt, this is an American Traditional Quilt, or this is an Avant-Garde Contemporary Quilt.
There are also painting quilts in other countries.
Especially in the United States, such quilts are very popular.
There are even quilt exhibitions featuring Van Gogh and Hokusai, and many quilts are made in accordance with such themes. So, you can think of them as replacing paints with fabrics. Yes, it is very interesting if you look at quilts like this!

It seems that the quilt has become much more profound – – something even deeper.

Yes, it is! I also feel that the quilt is changing from something rooted in our daily lives to something more artistic.

Q. Where does your background in color schemes and design come from?

I didn’t have any of those things. I never attended an art college, nor did I study anything in particular. I just liked to design on the computer!

In one of your works, you drew and designed a woman’s face, but I think it must be quite difficult for a person who doesn’t draw, to create something like that!

Of course! I collect photos and other materials for reference, but I draw my own lines while looking at them! For 20 years, I’ve been using a stylus and a personal computer for my design work.
The reason why I prefer this method is that I can make corrections. If I draw by hand on a piece of paper, I have to make a copy of it and redraw it again…but, with a computer, I can erase it in an instant or correct a small part of it easily. That is why I have been designing on the computer for a long time.
There are many people who say they can’t draw because they don’t have the artistic ability, but nowadays there are many convenient tools – – so you can make good use of them to overcome your weak points. It is also good to start from scratch, but I gather various materials, get inspiration, and then try drawing my own lines.
After repeating this process many times, I think you will find the “sense of touch” that you like. Of course, it is not something that can be done in a day, but as the saying goes, “Love is the key to success,” and I believe that trial and error is the shortcut to improvement.

Q. We found that your website is written in English. Do you have experience living or studying abroad? Or, do you have any overseas experience in design?

I did not live abroad for a long time, but I am from Nagano Prefecture, and Nagano Prefecture has a sister city in Missouri, USA.

When I was young, there was a home-stay program that allowed me to live there for about a month during summer vacation. I have always had a passion to go abroad, and I had a vague idea that someday I would like to work in a foreign country. With my antenna up, I naturally heard about the home-stay program, and I applied for it.
So I didn’t live there for a long time, but now that I think about it, that home-stay was my first encounter with quilting. It was in a town in the countryside, and my host mother was a quilter. In large foreign homes, in addition to their own living room, they have a guest room for entertaining. There is a room where only guests come to have tea and talk, and everything was beautifully decorated with quilts and home décor, all to my host mother’s taste.

The quilts were beautifully displayed on the shelves, and the conversation is stimulated by looking at the quilts. That was my first experience in that kind of world.

I think about it now, and that was my first encounter with quilts. And even in the room I was given, there were bedspreads and cushion covers made with patchwork quilts.

I thought it was interesting and came back to Japan, but at that time I was not interested in such things at all, so it was just one of my memories.
Twenty or thirty years have passed since then, and I have come to wonder that, if maybe, that was the starting point of my quilting life!

There is a reason why I am writing my website in English. While I was quilting for work, I was asked to promote sewing machine quilting in Thailand. So I went to Bangkok, Thailand and taught sewing machine quilting more than a dozen times. I was asked to make a website, not only to let the people over there know about my quilting projects, but also people in Asia, Europe, America and so on.

We asked them to create a website in English – – so that, we could promote our activities and quilting artwork to foreign students. That is also why my website is written in English.

In order to better promote my work and to let as many people as possible understand my work, my website in English is for learners abroad.

But, for Japanese people, it was not so easy to understand and it seems that it was not so popular (laughs). Some people said it was interesting.
So, I think it is important that my efforts and activities are directed toward an overseas audience.

Q It is so wonderful to have a quilt exhibition and music as the co-star together. How did you come up with this idea?

For example, quilts are usually exhibited at quilt shows or exhibitions of students’ works, but this was my first experience of having quilts exhibited together at a music concert, and… I don’t think anyone else had done it before! As for the inspiration and story that lead to this, I have a long-time friend who is a viola player.

She is about the same age as me and is performing in various places. She tours in Chiba and Tokyo areas. She is the head of a large symphony orchestra, but also performs with a quartet at local venues.

In addition to her own important subscription concerts, she also performs in smaller establishments.
I really admire and respect her performances! I also admire her so much for her volunteer activities! I love the fact that she has a job and a family, and that she works so hard despite her many challenges.
So, I made a quilt using the silhouettes of her quartets.

When I showed it to her, she asked me if I could display my quilt at their small concert. Of course, I said yes! And…I hung it at their concert. Then… a person in the music industry saw it and asked me to hang it at another concert where they were going to perform Carmen! That is how it spread more and more!

Due to the influence of the Corona Virus, it made it impossible for us to hold such concerts for a while. But, we were so honored to have it displayed in the most visible places on the concert stage, and to have music that matched it – – being played!

Musicians sometimes performed Carmen, Tosca, or Opera Music and we have had them decorate the stage and foyer to enhance the atmosphere of the venue – – saying that, the music inspired quilts are a perfect match for such occasions! So, my works were displayed to create a great atmosphere at the concerts!
The reason why we included the quilts is that – – sometimes the musicians may feel, they also, get stuck in a rut and need inspiration. In addition to big concerts to showcase their own musical virtuosity and techniques, they often hold family concerts.

It’s always a lot of work with difficult music, but I’d love to try something that would bring the atmosphere of the place to life by displaying my musical theme quilts together with the music. So, let’s do something like an exhibition where music and quilts co-star! This spread by word of mouth, and we have collaborated with several symphony orchestras. That is how it happened!

-It is so good to feel both visual and auditory stimuli, isn’t it?

I agree. Especially at music concerts, there is sometimes a 20-minute intermission in the middle of the concert. At such time, the audience is invited to come out into the foyer and have a chance to chat. They would say things like, “I’ve never seen a piece like this before,” or “How did you create this piece?” or ask a musician, “How do you make your music?”

Although they are completely different genres, they are both art forms! So, I was very happy to see how seriously they took my work!

I think it would be an interesting project to invite a quartet to perform at a quilt show someday and have them create a musical theme to correspond!

Q. Please tell us about your dreams and future endeavors or projects?

It’s a small dream, not a big one! But, I am now incorporating machine embroidery into my quilt work. I am challenging myself to do so, in my own style.
However, there are not many Japanese quilters who make such a so-called decorative quilt. So, I would like to expand such projects in Japan. For this goal and purpose, I am continuing to make many small and large works. That is my immediate agenda at the moment.

In connection with embroidery, I am also teaching a quilt class at Vogue Gakuen in Tokyo and Yokohama, where students design and embroider their own designs automatically on a sewing machine using software! We will be accepting students again in October, so if you are interested, please visit the Vogue Gakuen website!

【ヴォーグ学園：東京校🔗】

【ヴォーグ学園：横浜校🔗】