The beginnings of Japonica Graphic

In the early 2021s, when my youngest child was two years old,
I was struggling with the same problem that many parents face.
I wanted to go back to work, but the world was closed because of Corona.

I am Naoko, a mother of three, a photographer and fine art printer.
My passion for printing began when I studied sociology at university.
I took up photography as a hobby, bought darkroom equipment at a flea market
and began to teach myself how to develop black and white photos.

There is nothing more exciting for me than to see something emerge
on a white sheet of paper. I became obsessed with the process of photo printing.

After graduating from university, I decided to pursue a career in photography,
first working as a photographer and photo printer.

I took up photography as a hobby, bought darkroom equipment at a flea market
and began to teach myself how to develop black and white photos,

There is nothing more exciting for me than to see something emerge
on a white sheet of paper.
I became obsessed with the process of photo printing.

After graduating from university I decided to pursue a career in photography,
first as a photographer and photo printer.

Since 2008 I have been living in Berlin, the city of my dreams.
From 2015 to 2018 I learned digital fine art printing.
In the combination with photography I recognised my calling.

In my house there is a wall where we hang kakejiku,
which we change every season to match the season.
Kakejiku is a Japanese scroll painting in portrait format.
One of my favourite scroll is a Hina Matsuri scroll made by my grandfather's Japanese drawing teacher.
In a large white room, the dolls used for the Hina festival are modestly
are depicted in a modest way. The large white room reminds me of the Japanese atmosphere and conveys for me inner peace.

When the artist painted it decades ago, he could not have imagined
that it would one day hang on the walls of a Berlin flat.

In the meantime, I have become a treasure hunter, a picture restorer and a company founder.
I search for the works of great men and women
in the collections of museums all over the world,
restoring them by imagining the colours of their time
and print them on the paper that makes them most beautiful.

My dream is that a painting made hundreds of years ago in Japan,
be reprinted and hung on different walls all over the world.
I would be delighted if you would join me in the world of Japanese artists.
Enjoy with me the tranquillity that each painting is meant to radiate.