Couldn't Ignore 'I Love Art'

His first turning point was a do-over. He studied computers at a vocational school, felt it wasn't him, even took a job once — but could not ignore the voice that had always been there: "I love art." He let go of stability and re-enrolled, this time at a commercial art school in Osaka.

A working adult returning to studenthood takes courage. That one step became the foundation of everything: design in Hiroshima spanning graphics to hotel interiors, then Tokyo — department stores, catalogs, photo direction — then independence at thirty. Had he chosen stability over "love," none of it would exist.

When people realize they took a wrong path, they blame their age: "too late to go back." His life shows the opposite arithmetic: forty years on the wrong path, or a restart plus thirty-five on the right one— which goes farther? A do-over is not a delay. Only those who correct course recover their true speed.

What do you work for?