how my brand started
I want to share with you the story of how my brand started.
I lost one of my sisters in 2008.
She was a joyful, energetic, and beautiful Japanese landscape designer who loved nature deeply and dreamed of planting as many trees as she could in her lifetime.
It was her dream and her love of nature that inspired me to create my brand.
For a long time, I had a simple wish to create something that could gently encourage more responsible living, while helping people feel closer to nature in everyday life. Not through urgency or guilt, but through beauty, care and continuity.
During a difficult period in my life, I began walking in a heath near where I live. One sunny day, I lay on the grass and looked up at the sky. I remember feeling peaceful and grounded. I thought of my sister and how much she would have loved that beautiful moment.
I was filled with appreciation for Mother Earth, who continues to give us so much, even when we take without noticing. In that stillness, I felt a desire to give something back. That was the moment my first collection Tsutsumi 包 was born. "Tsutsumi" means "to wrap" in Japanese, and it carries the spirit of care and compassion.
My father took this photo on New Year's Day. I was eight years old, and my sisters were just three.
I miss my sister dearly. She is always in my heart, smiling. I feel her presence whenever I'm in harmony with nature - calm, grounded, and connected.
Today, I am beginning what I call the Tsutsumi Revolution: a gentle movement to share the Japanese Furoshiki culture with the world. A way to reduce waste from single-use wrapping paper and packages, while keeping the beauty and joy of gifting alive. Through a simple square of cloth, we can create space, carry intention, and let giving become a quiet ritual again.
If this story resonates, I would be grateful if you shared the Tsutsumi Revolution with someone you love.