Female Announcer Kaede Ito Transforms Into Painter

A female announcer at TBS has become a painter.

Kaede Ito, 30, who made an unusual career change, is currently based in Germany, where she is engaged in creative activities. However, when she left TBS in February 2009 and moved to Germany by herself in October of the same year, she encountered a series of troubles. Following Part 1: TBS Female Announcer Makes Unusual Career Change to Painter “Encouraged by Shinobu Sakaue and Hikaru Ijuin,” we would like to look back on Ms. Ito’s tumultuous life in her own words.

In the beginning, I lived in a student dormitory because I went to Germany on a 3-month language study abroad program, but after that it was difficult to find a house. It also took me a long time to set up an account.

I was even accused of staying in a hotel. I was once accused of staying at a hotel, and they deducted 20,000 yen from my credit card without my permission, saying that I had drunk and eaten the entire contents of the minibar in the room. There was no way I could eat and drink everything in the refrigerator by myself. I was so frustrated that a Japanese person who tends to hold back on everything would be looked down upon, that I appealed to my lawyer to protest, and the 20,000 yen was immediately refunded to me.

I can’t call myself a “painter.” ……

He also suffers as a painter.

Immediately after quitting TBS, I was excited about my possibilities, wondering how far I could go. However, when I moved to Germany, I began to feel a complex, perhaps due to the country’s high regard for the arts, and I could not call myself a ‘painter. I did not go to a school specializing in painting, and I did not learn the techniques well. I was spending my days in agony.

The opportunity for a turnaround came in January of last year. He sent an e-mail to the COO of UNIQLO’s German subsidiary, with whom he had no contacts, to make an appointment, and brought his work to present. After making a solo sales visit to the COO of UNIQLO Germany, Kikkake’s design was adopted and the product was put on sale.

Naturally, the local UNIQLO staff didn’t know who I was. They didn’t let me wear the ‘geta’ that I used to wear when I was in Japan. They looked at my original drawings and said, ‘You can collaborate with us. They said, “This is what makes Kaede’s drawings unique, so we would like to emphasize that. I was very happy to be recognized for the first time as an artist, not just a former female TV announcer. That’s when it all started. I was able to call myself a ‘painter.

Ito’s designs were so well received that the Japanese culture campaign period during which the products were sold was extended by two months. But …….