My grandparents moved to Tokyo from Kosh county, Niigata ( now Nagaoka) during the early Showa period and built a small liquor store. They survived the war and postwar period with great strength while raising seven children, and my mother, who grew up watching them, inherited their strength.

When I was little, I used to sit quietly in the corner of our small liquor store in Yotsuya and watch my mother pour sake for the neighbours. They called her “Mama.” They laughed, they shared stories, and sometimes, they cried. I remember the smell of sake, the sound of bottles clinking.

Thanks to my parents' educational philosophy, I was exposed to English from a young age, and during my student days I experienced a homestay in USA. After entering the workforce, I built a career in supply chain management at global companies.

Then, in 2024, everything started to shift. I joined Stanford Graduate School of Business LEAD program to lead team more effectively and efficiently in transformation and diversity. I was surrounded by entrepreneurs, people who were building things, creating impact, taking risks. They were passionate, fearless. I deeply inspired.

I named my company IL CUORE, which means “the heart” in Italian.
It represents the heart of the brewers, the heart of my mother and grandmother, and my own heart that connects Japan to the world.

When I think about my life now, I see how every step led me here, my parents’ dream for me to learn English, my years in global business, and the unexpected moment at Stanford.