I love to spark imagination in young minds, nurture their potential, and connect children with their caregivers through heartwarming stories. 

Bocchi and Pocchi : A Tale of Two Socks is my first picture book. The inspiration for the story came from my childhood as I would watch her grandma regularly darning socks and wondering what might happen to them. Bocchi and Pocchi and the Bird and Bocchi and Pocchi’s Big Surprise are the sequels.

When I began creating children’s books, it was simply to make me feel happy. When I was doing my master’s degree in Fine Art, my work focused on issues surrounding nuclear power (see my Nuclear Project). I’m from an area in Japan where a nuclear waste reprocessing plant was being built and its landscapes were rapidly changing. I felt compelled to face the nuclear issues through my art. But this nuclear theme started weighing heavy on my mind and made me feel depressed and powerless. I felt I needed to shift from it and create something lighter and simpler I can feel at peace with. So I began writing and illustrating children’s book – a tale of two socks.