“Erde” means both “soil” and “Earth” as our planet. As a Japanese person, I believe I perceive the power of the land in a more visceral, embodied way than many people in Europe. In my home country, natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are part of daily life — I have often witnessed their destructive energy firsthand. This “ERDE” series is not simply about earthy textures or rough decoration. It expresses traces of transformation through hammering and marks formed by exposure to intense heat — manifestations of an “invisible energy” within the material. Through this work, I seek to explore the “true nature” of silver as a material, while also searching for a form of expression that is uniquely mine. We are constantly supported by these unseen energies — forces that shape our lives, even though we rarely notice them.

After moving to Berlin and encountering people from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, I began reflecting more deeply on my own cultural identity and the place I come from. Through this experience, I found myself returning to Ainu culture, which I had encountered while growing up in Hokkaido and which had influenced me since my early twenties, now seeing it from a new perspective.
The Ainu are an Indigenous people of northern Japan. Having been born and raised in Hokkaido, their culture was never something distant to me. Its relationship with nature and life has remained an enduring influence throughout my practice.
In Ainu culture, the relationship between humans, nature, and kamuy (spiritual beings) forms a fundamental worldview. This way of thinking resonates with the original role of jewelry as objects worn for protection, prayer, and spiritual connection.
The AINU series is my attempt to reinterpret and translate this understanding of Ainu culture into the language of jewelry.