Born in 1957 in Nibutani, Biratori Town, Hokkaido. She grew up in a three-generation household with her grandparents, parents, and three sisters. Behind their home stood a nusasan (a sacred fence erected outdoors near a divine window), where sinnurappa (ancestor menmorial service ceremony) were held regularly. Her grandfather made inaw (wooden ritual sticks offered to the kamuy) and pasuy (ceremonial chopsticks for libations), her grandmother made kondasi (plant-fiber woven bags, also known as saranip), and her mother wove and embroidered attus(※1). Immersed in this environment, she was surrounded by Ainu culture and crafts from an early age.

She began making and stretching threads for attus weaving around junior high school age and helped her mother with crafts while they lived together. Later, she worked as a school cook in Biratori, and only after retiring at over 60 did she begin focusing on crafts full time.

Her main works are kimonos and tote bags made from attus, with embroidery pieces being the most requested commissions. The kimono patterns she creates are always based on those of her late mother, Nitani Wakako. Believing that attus made from tree bark is the fabric that best represents the essence of Ainu garments, she says the works she most wishes to create are kimonos made entirely from attus cloth.

For her, Ainu crafts hold deep family memories. Since the raw material forattus used to be the inner bark of the Japanese linden tree, touching the bark (nipes) brings back memories of the artist’s grandmother and mother, making the time spent creating each work deeply enjoyablel.

She recalls that Nibutani has always been a place where the whole community watches over children, allowing her to raise her own without worry. She hopes the village will remain a place of such care and warmth.

Note:
※1 Attus is a traditional Ainu textile, plain-woven from fibers extracted from the inner bark of trees such as the Japanese elm (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.