Born in 1948 in Kumamoto Prefecture. She spent her university years in Tokyo and while studying at Musashino Art University, she visited Nibutani during a trip to Hokkaido. She returned to Nibutani, met Koichi Kaizawa, and married him in 1970. Afterwards, she studied Ainu crafts and patterns, especially learning emus-at (knife suspender cords) from Reiko Kayano and citarpe (rush leaf mats) from Tome Kaizawa. She continued raising children and working on the farm, and from 2004 to 2010 worked in the Utari Affairs Office of the Biratori Town Hall, all the while continuing her research and production of Ainu crafts.

Her main works include kimono such as cikarkarpe and kapar-amip, and knitted items such as saranip (a bag or shoulder bag made by weaving tree bark threads) and emus-at. She prioritizes “not deviating from the embroidery style of the Saru River,” and has learned traditional embroidered patterns from predecessors’ works but recently also incorporates patterns she draws independently alongside classical ones.

Besides crafts, she also teaches food culture to young people and those from outside the region. She says that the traditional Ainu culture passed down in Nibutani was naturally acquired after moving there and simply inherited as a normal part of life; she is happy if she can pass it on to others. She feels fortunate to live in Nibutani where the mountains provide wild plants and blessings of nature that one can use in daily life.