She studied at Chuo University in Tokyo (1986); the Tokyo College of Photography (1995); then, after relocating to France in 1995, at the École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie in Arles (1996) and the Studio National des Arts Contemporaines in Le Fresnoy, France (1999). Since the beginning of her career, her self-portraits have been the sublimation of her own childhood marked by female identity, abandonment and wandering. In the series Marry Me (2003), she presents herself as a bride in wildly contrasting cultural identities, evoking legends, dreams, and memories. Her series Paintings (2010), she wears eclectic clothing found in the Paco Rabanne archives and painted her face in monochromatic colors while in fact referencing famous painters from Western art history as diverse as Caravaggio, Velasquez, Picasso and Warhol. Her beautiful photographs-classical in manner and rich in color-intentionally shock the viewer with their intensity and directness. She has held solo shows in prestigious international institutions including at the Israel Museum (2006), Jerusalem; The Grand Palais (2006, 2007, 2011), Paris; Museum Das Artes-Casa Das Mudas (2007), Madeira, Portugal; Xin Dong Cheng Space for Contemporary Art (2008), Beijing; Maison Européenne de la Photographie (2010) Paris; Ruarts Gallery (2011), Moscow; Musée du Pavillon de Vendôme-Dobler (2012); Aix-en-Provence; Katara Arts Centre (2012), Doha; Galerie Tanit (2013), Beirut; Fushimi Castle (2015), Kyoto; Musée du Masque (2016), Binche, Belgium; Embassy of Japan (2016), Brussels; Museo del Vetro (2016-2017), Murano. She won First Prize in the “Self-Portrait” category at the International Photography Awards (2005), New York, and the Prix de l’Ermitage (2015), Maison de la Photographie, Paris.
