Looking back on 2024.

This year was another one where I was taken care of by many people, received inspiration from many, and learned so much from many different countries.

Looking back at my calendar, it feels like I traveled all around the globe.

After being featured in Newsweek and starting to move in earnest with business trips to LA and New York, I also went to Ahmedabad, the base of Gandhi in Western India, and visited Uzbekistan to see work in my first former Soviet country.

Looking at the Earth from various angles like this, I felt a realization sprout that my perspective had risen just a little bit, and there were moments when I would diligently take notes on Indian sleeper trains; it was a year of immense learning.

The phrase 'Handicrafts are the best samples of culture and history' was written on a wall when I was invited to visit Uzbekistan.

When I read it, it hit home once again that my work is about touching culture, not just civilization.

That is why, while visiting various countries for work, I often have moments where my heart sends a signal to my brain saying, 'This must not be lost.'

I think it's probably wrong to try to 'preserve' culture; rather, it's about adjusting it to the modern day while causing change, which is what leads to preservation. That's why I think it's simply important to try doing things differently than now, even if it's on a small scale.

Villages and factories I visit when asked for 'advice on our traditional crafts.' Most of the time, they have been making the same things for generations.

However, I don't think there is any meaning in looking down on people and saying "let's change" while "dropping" a design that fits the modern era.

I believe what is truly important is sharing an environment and materials that allow the creators to imagine the people who will use their work, setting appropriate directions for taking on challenges, and finally, being able to light a fire in their hearts to want to take on those challenges.

For the first point, it is possible to prepare the environment to some extent through mechanisms and systems.

As for the second point, I feel like I encountered many villages and handmade crafts this year in various countries where the setting itself—what a new challenge is, or how they should change—was a mistake. Honestly, this is still very difficult, and the methods differ depending on the country and the work; it seems to be an equation consisting of dozens of elements. I believe that without both a management perspective and a creative one, you cannot wave the flag and say "This way!"

But I think the third point is perhaps the most important one.
Being able to light a fire in the heart to do one's best. That is a very important thing, yet it is not something that is particularly taught in work or business.

Lighting a fire in people's hearts.

I don't know the complete answer, but I have the minimum necessary answer within me.

It might sound obvious, but I think the question of "whether you yourself are burning" is important.

19 years have passed since I started my company, and I have been able to reach this 19th year because I have received the strength to keep my own flame from going out from my family, colleagues, and customers who support me, as well as from the materials and techniques I encounter.

"If it weren't for those words from that person..." I think things like that, and
"If it weren't for that smile from that person," I also think.

This year, too, I have nothing but gratitude for the wonderful encounters I've had, and every person I met provided me with so much learning, as well as stimulation and encouragement.

A few days ago, I received a letter addressed to me from a customer via the shop at my atelier desk.

In it, something like this was written.

"Thank you for creating such wonderful things this year as well. I am looking forward to next year."

I opened this envelope just as I was about to start working on samples in the morning, and it brought tears to my eyes, leaving me sitting there for a while still wearing my apron.

It is through things like a single letter or a casual word from a colleague that I have received the strength to keep walking forward. That is why, every year, my feelings remain the same: I want to give back.

Even after 19 years, my belief remains unchanged that my way of giving back is to go to those around the world waiting for a spark of joy and to encourage them in their challenges.

I have seen so many people in the field who, when fueled by a burning passion, overcome things that were deemed impossible by analysis and rational thinking, and I want to be that small catalyst for them.

I feel like I make the same vows every year, and what I do and think hasn't changed much, but the world I see is definitely a little wider and a little deeper.

After 2025, it will be my 20th year. It will be a major milestone for me.

I want to make next year another year with no regrets.

Thank you all so much for this year. And I look forward to your continued support next year.