1. Where were you born and where are you from ?

I was born in Tokyo and raised in Miyagi Prefecture in Japan.

2. What is your first memory connected to the art world ?

Ever since I was a child, I was in an environment where artists and sculptors came and went in and out of Mt. Okurayama . There were books on art and architecture in my house, so I was naturally exposed to art.　I saw an exhibition of Rodin’s work in Tokyo when I was very young and I still remember the scene, because it made an impression on me.

3. Have you always worked in the art/design field ?

No. But I was enrolled in graphics at Central Saint Martins in London, so I learned more about assembling concepts than skills.

4. What led you to the design creation ?

I run a company, so I’m not sure if I’m calling myself a designer is the right name.
I’m not sure, but as I stared at the Daté Kan stones that come from my mountain, I felt a growing desire to make them myself.

5. How would you describe your creative process and it influences ?

Creativity always learns from nature’s forms and providence.
If it’s a stone, you can get inspiration for a design from the shape of the stone, or you can get a concept from the geology of how the stone was formed.

6. Could you describe a typical day of your work ?

It starts with a day of checking the expressions on the employees’ faces and all over the studio.
Then I have various meetings. I also deal with visitors from far away. I think I design about one day a week.

7. Why did you choose the specific materials you work with ?

Because there is interesting stones with a strong personality, called Daté Kan Stone, in Mt. Okurayama where I work at.

8. What are the technical particularities of your creations ?

I am combining it with a hard material to keep the strength of the stone.

9. What advices could you give to beginning artists who would like to create sculptural design works ?

Have a good insight into nature. There are many clues in there.

10. If your works had to belong to a design movement, in which one would you define it ?

I don’t think I belong anywhere.

11. What designers have influenced you ?

The ancient people who built the dolmen and menhirs

12. What contemporary designers do you appreciate ?

I can not pick one. I know many great designers.

13. What contemporary artists (in any kind of art) have you been inspired by ?

Richard Long.

14. If you had to summarize your creations in one word or sentence, what would it be ?

There is nothing in particular.

Proust Questionnaire with very short answers (one or a few words) :
(The Proust Questionnaire is a set of questions answered by the French writer Marcel Proust. Other historical figures who have answered confession albums are Oscar Wilde, Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Cézanne…)