Whence came one to Tohoku

A new life has begun somewhere in Tohoku.
This spring, I stepped into the housing world and started working around digital strategy and communication design. Hong Kong born, new to Tohoku, new to the industry. Lately, life seems to have developed a taste for firsts.

There is a great deal to learn when both the place and the language of the work are unfamiliar. Still, I am slowly getting used to it all, helped along by the outline of hills at dusk and that faint smell of wood that sometimes lingers after rain.

My work sits somewhere between houses, words, and design.

Things that seem obvious to people inside the industry can feel completely foreign to someone thinking about a home for the first time. Materials, structure, plans, specifications. Rather than simply repeating technical information, I am more interested in translating it into questions that belong to ordinary life.

Why does this room feel comfortable?
What difference does this material actually make?
How might a house change the way someone spends an ordinary morning?

I have also been quietly experimenting with websites, editorial pieces, and the rhythm between photographs and words.

I am still very much a beginner when it comes to housing.

Perhaps that is useful.

Not knowing something gives you permission to ask the question everyone else has stopped asking.

Outside work, life is quieter.

I cook, spend time with family, wander around without much of a plan, and occasionally rescue myself with a cup of coffee.

Cooking with children nearby has a peculiar ability to turn one task into five. At some point, it becomes difficult to tell whether dinner is being made or the kitchen is simply being rearranged.

Lately I have also been thinking about gifts and experiences that can be enjoyed together, rather than things that disappear into a cupboard after a week.