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ON THIS WEBSITE....

Introduce Japanese culture that you already know,

BUT don't know well.

 

Introduce Japanese art,

and Japanese artists who have unique talents.

ABOUT ME

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Kayoko Shige Bortolin

ORIGAMI artist

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This is my history here.

I was born and grew up in Japan (In a city called Okayama). I’ve never thought that I wanted to live overseas when I was a young child. When I was teenager, I dreamed to be a registered nurse to support loved ones. I was able to study and work as a registered nurse in Japan. When I was 26 years old, after working in at a general hospital for 5 years, I decided to quite my job and travel to India.

Why!?

Because I always dreamed of being able to participate as a volunteer worker in another country, so…… why not??

I made a choice to change my life, and my choice was right!! I had a life-changing experience in India that completely opened my mind and encouraged me to challenge anything I desired to do. After India, I moved to Australia and there I also had so many valuable experiences. I worked as an assistant nurse, waitress and Japanese teacher, and I was even able to achieve one of my dream goals of becoming a professional scuba diver. In Australia thought, am I not a registered nurse anymore? YES I AM!! I even studied and graduated from the University in Australia, and I became a registered nurse in Australia too!!

I guess you guys already know I am a very active and curious person, who likes to explore new things, set new challenges, and gain new experiences in my life. I also met my lovely Italian husband in Australia and we got married. We always love to experience new things together or create something new from scratch. After living in Australia almost 10 years, the idea crossed our mind that “It’s time for a change!!!” so, in 2021 we moved to Italy to start a new chapter in our life.

I guess it is quite common that while you live in your home country, you don’t realise how much you love your country, culture, or people. Once you leave your country, finally then you realise how much you love them and where your roots lie. Through more than 10 years of experience living overseas, my passion for Japanese arts (SYODO and ORIGAMI) had become bigger and bigger.

When I was a girl, I learned "SYODO"(Japanese calligraphy)  I was studying and actively participating in SYODO for more than 5 years. I was able to win many competitions and awards. But to be honest, I did not love it much at that time and I quit when I was a junior high school student. A few years after I left Japan, I had an opportunity to try it again. And…. I loved it! Even after I had not been practicing for more than 15 years!! It felt so natural and helped me to realise who I am!

Another cultural activity is ORIGAMI. When I was a young child, my grandmother and mum taught me how to make Cranes, flowers, and other ornaments with ORIGAMI paper. We often created many shapes with friends. But once you become older in your teenage years, you become interested in other things and forget about origami. I was the same and I stopped actively participating. After I moved overseas, I often made crane birds as a little present to my non-Japanese friends, and when I gifted it to them, they were so happy and surprised like they received something special and priceless. I was so glad that I could make them so happy with ORIGAMI. Since this experience, my passion for ORIGAMI came back.

This has now become one of my passions and life goals. I want to introduce our culture, art and mindset to overseas people. My future plan is also to introduce (by opening an online shop) various Japanese products that are 100% made in Japan such as Japanese tea or traditional Japanese crafts. In addition, I would like to organise online courses to teach people about ORIGAMI and SYODO and show how it is practised in Japanese culture. Of course I am also able to organise Japanese language lessons too.

Do not hesitate to contact me for any questions, and please feel free to contact me for any requests or other job opportunities.

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