I was born in 1976. On my 20th birthday, I moved to New York. In the 2 years that I spent there, I studied English while I worked on projects as I aspired to　become a make-up artist. When I came back to Japan,　I found a job at a hair salon in Tokyo, but I soon quit, unable to find my groove there. The days that followed were filled with my search for the one thing that I truly wanted to do. I told myself to just go for it - whatever interested me. Little by little, I broadened the scope of my interests and the focus of my actions. In this way, as I saw myself in a different light, my feelings began to move, and at the same time, my surroundings began to take shape. It can be said that it was those little changes that came together from all different angles to give birth to the CHI-BAG. Bag-making was a process of trial and error for me, so when I finally created a bag that I was satisfied with all the feelings that were once cooped up deep inside me began to release themselves. “My wish is to create bags that transcended feelings of shear joy and excitement by simply carrying or looking at them, by introducing the beauty of Japan's kimono culture nonchalantly into everyday life. I want to connect with the people of the world!” In February, 2005, I found myself standing on the streets of New York once again, and as each of the CHI-BAGs that I made were sold, I was touched in a way that I had never before experienced. The assiduous efforts of my tiny challenge can be found in each CHI-BAG. I create each bag with the hope that you, the carrier will feel that we are all one, connected by an invisible thread. Japanese