I launched iOstudio in July 2023. After many years working in advertising and cosmetics manufacturers, I realized I had become just one small cog in a large machine. I wanted to create something where I could make every decision—from design to marketing—on my own terms.

During my research, I discovered that there are still skilled Japanese artisans capable of encapsulating materials in clear resin. However, many of them have been forced to close due to cheap fast fashion imports, complicated tax systems, and the aging of the craftsman population in Japan. I wanted to give them meaningful work while preserving these rare techniques.

I’m funding the brand through my personal savings and by working part-time in advertising. It’s still very much a balancing act, but it allows me to keep building iOstudio in my own way.

Creating pieces with transparent-in-transparent materials is difficult and costly—but no one else was doing it, and the result is something truly unique.

In Japan today, even many younger people are giving up on what they truly want to do before they even begin. I’m not famous or wealthy—just an ordinary woman trying to build something meaningful from scratch.

If someone sees what I’m doing and feels even a small light of hope, then that means everything to me.

From anguish, brilliance is born.