I have created greeting cards, a calendar, and illustrations of San Francisco where I live. There are many tourists from all over the world who come to San Francisco. My designs of San Francisco have gained a positive reputation among the tourists who want to have sweet memories of their visit.
How do you stay inspired? Meeting and talking with new people such as customers, other field designers, and staff from the stores that carry my product, are the inspiration for my designs. I used to spend all of my days at home doing 
design by myself. I thought it was OK as I could always contact people v! ia email if I wanted. I was still happy since I liked what I was doing. But since my art show’s reception, I’ve had a chance to meet and talk to new people in person. I realized that meeting with people, face to face, had a much different impact on me. I was very happy to hear from people about my design’s good reputation in person. It gave me lots of energy and inspiration for new designs.
Anything else you would like to tell us about your business? I was a sports teacher for children and seniors, as well as a lifeguard in Tokyo. After a few years as a sports teacher I realized that my real interest was in graphic design. It may seem like a big leap to change my career direction but it was actually very simple as I was following my true dream. It was not easy to come to the point where I am as a designer. When I came to the US 3 years ago to study design, I could not speak English at all. I had no idea what teachers said in their lectures. Beside, I could not make any friends. It was very difficult and I felt lonely and homesick. But I never gave up because I had my strong passion to be a designer who is active worldwide. I did not want to go back to where I was not happy in a job with no passion. So, after much deep thought about it, I started my business in March, 2009. I would like to tell everyone, if you have a dream, please don’t give up on it. If you continue showing what you are doing in public, asking questions of people who already have become successes in their field, speaking about your passion, and having appreciation for other people’s help, your dream will come true. People say my life looks very happy from my illustrations. Yes, now I am very happy.