Born in 1957 in Nibutani, Birator Town, Hokkaido. From a young age, she assisted her late mother, Kawanano Setsue, in attus (※1) weaving, embroidery, and garment making, including tasks such as knotting threads. She always loved creating things, enjoying a variety of handicrafts such as lace knitting and paper flowers, but now devotes herself entirely to traditional crafts. Since 2017, she has been selling ikema, an Ainu protective amulet, at the Nibutani Craft Gallery (Biratori Ainu Culture Information Center). Later, she began offering embroidered accessories and attus woven bags as well. She is determined to recreate all the crafts once made by Ainu women in the past.

Her main works include attus garments, toma (※2), and other traditional Ainu household items, but she also creates modern accessories such as straps and keychains, like ikema, for everyday use. To highlight the natural texture of attus woven pieces, she recently began using embroidery threads in subtle colors. When creating her works, she envisions the lifestyle and craftsmanship of the Ainu in the past, making a point to use materials as close to nature as possible, and never discarding even hard or difficult-to-weave fibers.

She reflects that the traditions they inherit today were hard-earned by their predecessors. For example, she now uses Ohyo bark for attus weaving, but thinks with respect about the countless trials and hardships endured to discover and refine such materials. With gratitude always in mind, she intends to continue creating various works while honoring tradition.

A member of the Nibutani Craft Association.

Note:
※1 Attus is a traditional Ainu textile, plain-woven from fibers extracted from the inner bark of trees such as the Japanese elm Ohyo (Ulmus laciniata, also known as lobed elm), as well as the garments made from it. Nibutani Attus, woven using traditional techniques handed down in the Nibutani region of Biratori, is a designated Traditional Craft Product of Japan. Nibutani Attus is a special brand that can only be called as such when created only by specially recognized weavers.
※2　toma: a plain mat woven from cattail leaves