[ Grinding Artisan ]

 

“We can show [Nozomi products] anywhere and know that they are really beautiful!" 

This next year is really hard with two of my daughters who are going to be taking tests to enter the next level of school. So I will have to do my best to help them. Both of us, parents and our children, are going to have to try really hard. It’s not just me, but my husband has been really helping our children as well; he works at the night shift and he doesn't want my kids to have to do manual labor like he does. So we are trying hard to help our children to have a different future. My oldest daughter wants to be a doctor but I don’t know if her scores will be high enough. But even if she doesn't become a doctor there is a lot of hope for her future. 

At Nozomi – I am still making mistakes, but I feel like I can do most of the jobs that I need to as a grinder. When I think of the products we made in the early days and compare them to now, I feel like we are making accessories that we can be so proud to show off! Not that they were bad at the beginning, but now I feel like we can show them anywhere and know that they are really beautiful!

I love that Nozomi is selling around the world; I would love to see more Nozomi products sold here in Japan.

Yumi’s 3/11 Story:
When the earthquake hit, I was home. I needed to pick up my children, so as soon as conditions were stable I went to the elementary school and brought them home. Our house was near the ocean so I literally saw the water coming up over the levees. It looked like water overflowing out of a bathtub. Just in time, the car came to pick us up so we got on and began our escape. We were being chased by the tsunami. We barely made it. When we escaped, the only thing we brought with us were our youngest child’s diapers. That day, it was snowing. It was so, so cold. That night, we evacuated to the mountains; we were there for four days until we were able to go my husband’s friend’s house. Then we went to my sibling’s house in the neighboring town and stayed there for two weeks until we could move into housing provided by my husband’s company because our house was completely washed away. After that, we stayed in temporary housing until our current house was built.