Where Japan Creative Adventures Began — and Where It’s Headed (Letter #001)

Aomori Museum of Art by Jun Aoki

Welcome!

I’m so grateful to my colleagues and friends who encouraged me to run travel programs independently. This step allows me to fulfill a long-time wish—to make these experiences accessible to a broader creative community. I’ve already shared the short version of why on my website, but I wanted to tell you a bit more.

My appreciation for travel comes from a very personal place. It’s been a lifeline—a way of learning, a way of seeing. I’ve been teaching and practicing architecture for many years, and I feel fortunate to be able to teach while running an architecture firm with my partner and continuing my art practice. For me, Japan Creative Adventures is a new vehicle that brings these threads together. Sharing experiences with you through travel is more than business—it’s part of how I live and make sense of the world.

In recent years, I’ve been quietly reshaping how I see things. My family history is complicated—full of silence, loss, and distance. The passing of my biological father (whom I never met) and my mother’s second stroke resurfaced old, unresolvable tensions in my family—and many of my own challenges, too. Yet grief and pain have often helped me focus on what I loved when I was a kid: imagining spaces, building small structures in the woods, making art, playing instruments, and following my curiosity wherever it leads. Searching for beauty—in space, nature, art, and people—has always been a way of survival.

This time, though, grief also brought calm. It helped me re-calibrate how I see the past, strip away what’s unnecessary, and refocus on what matters most.

Undoubtedly, my mother—who was a strong creative force in my life—has been a deep influence. She ran a flower arrangement studio while raising two children on her own—a rare path for a woman of her generation, especially in rural-suburban Japan. I remember her traveling to Europe when I was little to study floral design, and even though I didn’t understand it then, I realize now how much that experience must have inspired her. To her, living with a good, inspired spirit—by doing what she loved—was the best way to raise her children. I hold that same belief deeply.

Growing up in a household with few adults around, I was incredibly fortunate to be selected at age twelve for Japan’s national abacus team to perform in the U.S. It was my first time leaving Japan, and it opened my eyes to a completely unfamiliar world. That brief exposure planted a seed: maybe my life could expand far beyond what I saw around me. I became the first in my family to attend university, later studied and worked abroad, and built a life as an architect, artist, and educator.

When I say “exposure is everything,” I mean it sincerely. That early experience—and my mother’s quiet courage—continue to drive me to create meaningful, inspiring travel programs that open new perspectives for others, too.

Japan Creative Adventures grew out of the belief that travel itself can be a creative practice. It’s not about sightseeing, but about learning to see differently—as a creative individual. Travel isn’t the end goal; it’s a way to keep evolving, to stay curious and imaginative.

This newsletter is where I’ll share stories, places, and people that inspire me—one at a time. I hope these glimpses spark something in you, too: curiosity, reflection, or the desire to join a future journey.

Let’s see where it goes.

Warmly,
Junko

Coming up: a look behind the scenes at how I start shaping new journeys in Japan. See upcoming programs I am planning below!