akari, who is a producer of installations and art spaces in Japan and abroad, also works with various companies to improve their brand image and direct sales promotions has joined chignitta.com as a contributor of “Journal From The City” from France, where she is currently living.
akari-san and I (Junko) met at an interior design event in 2013.At the time, I was in charge of PR for a furniture brand, and she was an invited lecturer. She gave us some ideas on how to create wonderful table coordination, entertaining dishes, and spaces with just a few ideas and familiar items.
In the fall of 2020, she moved to France with her partner in the midst of the lockdown regulations, and her struggles in a different language and culture are a testament to the “indie spirit” that life goes on. akari named the title “petit à petit,” which means “little by little” in French. “Since we came here, we’ve been gradually preparing our lives, building a home, and building connections with people.”, she says.
Traveling abroad is something we have to put on hold for a while, but I’m sure you’ll feel like you’re in France with akari’s beautiful photos. Bon voyage!
akari
akari has been active in international activities, such as producing party spaces of New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo and Italian Cultural Institute in Osaka, giving a lecture at the FIT (New York State Fashion Institute of Technology), and producing artworks of 5-star hotel “Renaissance Taipei Shihlin Hotel” of the Marriott Group Hotel in Taipei. Akari produces parties and events for corporate clients. Her focus is on creating interactive time and space for people. “PAPER PARTY” has been offered since 2012 as a party space constructed entirely through a cardboard medium, expressing new possibilities and transforming a space into an eco-friendly environment full of fun, excitement, and peer to peer interaction. Since 2015 lifestyle brand “by akari” has been started. From a corporate perspective, marketing strategies and company re-branding services are offered to clients in the commercial sphere, with a long track record of work in the cafe and restaurant sector. These seek to maximize company returns through the expression of ideas that reflect new trends, as well as valuing a woman’s perspective.
Links:
akari._.ogawa
barracks anonymous design gang / Paris
A summer day in 2019, I and my husband decided to live in France from Kobe, Hyogo prefecture where we lived and worked.
The trigger of this idea was that my husband, an artist, was looking for a place to live and to work as an artist outside Japan.
Why France to live? It was a simple reason for us.
Summer 2019 in Paris, at the Seine, where we made our mind to live there. Many people were enjoying dancing.
”What is it like to live in this country where so many great artists have created works?”
Looking at the beautiful city of Paris, the people drinking wine and dancing on the banks of the Seine, the people chatting happily on the terraces, yes those people who love Paris, we just somehow felt that we wanted to live there.
I don’t remember how many rosés I drank…
We swore to the beautiful Louvre the day before we left.
Just after we finally got our visas, our trip to France was postponed due to the Corona pandemic.
We finally entered France on November 15, 2020, just before our 180-day extended visa expired. France was right in the middle of the second lockdown. We had moved abroad during this unprecedented pandemic. All the people in Paris were depressed, but for us, the quiet Paris was full of different charms.
Louvre in my mind
I would like to write about my experiences in France, as well as small discoveries and insights into daily life, from my perspective, as proof that I lived here during this special period. I hope you enjoy my journal.
In our early days in France, we were only allowed to travel within 1km of my house. There were many people along the Canal Saint-Martin, because walking was allowed.
Many people along the Canal Saint-Martin on weekends. Cafes and restaurants were closed, so where on earth were they going? I was walking, too, though.
Beautiful leaves on the canal water.
Friends in Paris came over to our apartment to say “welcome!”
From a skylight.
He is a world champion of Parkour.
His silhouette on the wall.
Living in Paris has started.
“Rue Magenta” in the early morning, as seen from the window of my apartment the morning after my arrival.
Since we came here, we’ve been gradually preparing our lives, building a home, and building connections with people, so I named the title of this Journal From The City, “petit à petit,” which means “little by little” in French.
