Emi Takazawa was born in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. She attended Bunka Fashion College studying and chasing fashion but had a longing for old things. She worked at a company specializing in the traditional craft of ‘yokofuri’ embroidery. In 2006 she became independent creating horizontal embroidery of corsages, earrings, headdresses and bouquets popular in bridal. On Beauty News Tokyo she explains how she became an embroidery artist:
“After graduating from a vocational school, I got a job at a company that handles horizontal embroidery of local (Kiryu) wedding costumes and stage costumes, but at that time I was assigned to the department in charge of wedding costumes. There were two traditional craftsmen there, and thanks to the fact that they taught me directly, it was said that “normally it takes several years of training to work on a sword.” In about a year, I was able to master the technique until I started working on it. About two years after that, after working at the company for embroidery such as embroidery and stage costumes, something happened and I became independent.”
More of her work can be viewed on her website, Facebook and Instagram.
Images: Courtesy of Emi Takazawa.
