Our Story

The owner, Dr. Sawako Takemura Chang, has been living in New York and Honolulu, Hawai'i for over 20 years. Sawako worked at Japan Society in New York as a gallery assistant and later served as an art museum curator, specializing in Japanese art, conducting research and education for over 10 years in Honolulu. Subsequently, she decided to pursue a Ph.D. at Leiden University in the Netherlands, focusing on ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock prints of the 18th-19th century). Now, Sawako's passion lies in sharing her extensive knowledge of Japanese art and culture through contemporary Japanese artists' works and handicrafts. ukiyo concepts promotes the beauty and functionality of Japanese artworks for everyday life.

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Short Biography

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1997            Worked for the Japan Society Art Gallery in New York

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1998-2011    Worked for Honolulu Museum of Art as Japanese Art researcher and                          curator. Obtained a curatorial certificate from Kongo Buji Temple, Mt. 

                    Koya, Japan where many national treasures dated from 8th century

                    AD are stored.

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2020           Worked for Joan Mirviss Gallery, New York 

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2021            Achieved for the Doctorate Degree in Japanese Art at Leiden University                      in the Netherlands. The doctorate thesis is on the function of female

                    images designed by an ukiyo-e artist, Keisai Eisen (1790-1848).  

 

2023            Established Ukiyo Concepts Inc.

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