What do you like about Canada?
I like the fact that nature and the city are close together, which makes it easy to raise children. I am grateful that people are friendly here. Some people helped me when I was pushing my stroller, and compared to Japan, I feel that they are kind to people who are raising children. I was very sad that after COVID-19, people became more distant from each other and didn’t talk to us anymore.
I don’t have to adjust myself to others.
How long have you been living here? What brought you here？
I came to Vancouver in 2015 for a working holiday. I have always loved to travel and thought it would be more fun to travel if I could speak English. I started learning conversational English in Tokyo. I was not very good at English when I was in high school, but I really enjoyed learning English. I think things that you decide to do on your own learn faster and better. Since I was planning to go on a work holiday, I quit my job and attended ECC’s English specialization classes for one year in order to learn daily conversational level English in a short period of time.
What is the hardest thing you’ve faced living in Canada?
Solo-parenting. My husband is away quite often for his job. It made it difficult for me to raise my child alone for many months.
I didn’t take a prenatal class in Vancouver because I chose to have my son in Japan. As a result, I did not have many mom friends and spent many lonely days after I came back to Vancouver. It was even more difficult for me because I was suddenly alone here after having the help of my mother and others in Japan. After I got to know some mothers, I was able to talk about my concerns with them and it brightened me up.
What is your personal belief/motto?
Tomorrow is another day. I am enjoying my life, as if what will be will be.
In Japan, I was caught up in the idea that I had to do this or that. Now I do what I feel like doing and what I enjoy doing.. That’s how I’ve changed.
Please tell us about your store, JUNE BEBE .
At the end of August, I opened an online store that selects fashionable yet not too expensive clothes for boys and girls. I named it JUNE BEBE after my son who was born in June.
I was inspired because I had many friends around me who were in the business. After giving birth to my son, I had two miscarriages. In the midst of my emotional pain, I began to think, “Okay, let’s do something that I enjoy.” I wanted to be able to relax and do something that I could devote myself to.
I loved looking at and picking out clothes for my son on the Internet and in stores, but I couldn’t find any cute clothes for boys as boy clothes = soccer balls, cars or dinosaurs. Also, the clothes that I thought were cute were very expensive. I felt that there are a lot of girls’ clothes out there, but not much choice for boys. I would like mothers who have boys to enjoy shopping for their sons too.
What are your goals for the future?
Because of my husband’s work, I like to be able to control my own time at home. I enjoy creating and preparing the logo, and I am very happy when I see the photos of my customers wearing the items that they purchased for their children.
I was working as a SE in Japan, but I always wanted to try my hand at it after seeing the work of the designers who created the designs. When I took a graphic design course at BCIT, I realized how fun it is to create something.
In the future, I would like to make clothes of my own design and handle them in the store.
EDITOR’S COMMENT
I had the pleasure of interviewing Takako after she brought her son to the “Ohanashi Ohanashi” reading class hosted by Ogojo Canada. Takako’s three-year-old son is a very cute and funny boy. I was impressed by his earth-toned clothes, which look easy to move around in but are very stylish.
She spoke very strongly, but calmly, saying that at the moment she experienced a very painful miscarriage, she decided to “do what I like and what I enjoy. This online store was started for mothers who want to enjoy fashion at a reasonable price, even if they have a mischievous boy. The neutral colors make it a good gift for a baby shower.
We are looking forward to seeing clothes designed by Takako-san herself for sale in the near future.
