A World of Imagination, and My Childhood
I've always loved losing myself in worlds of imagination.
Through dramas and role-playing games, I loved the feeling of living, in a sense, someone else's life.
The imagination I cultivated as a child has brought all kinds of ideas into my life ever since.
While I tired easily from relationships, I was also a textbook "good girl," good at hitting it off with people I'd just met, and I loved new encounters.
But I was a little less comfortable with a second or third meeting, and I often valued time alone.
Naturally, I grew into "someone very good at playing alone."
Looking back now, I may have been the type who could only recover with time to myself.
Life in the Netherlands, and an "Escape From Reality" I Didn't Notice
That version of me kept losing myself in books and films, and one by one, traveling to the places that captured my heart.
What people call escapism.
Before I knew it, that path had led to marriage, raising children, and life abroad.
Looking back, I feel like this "escape from reality" had, without my noticing, quietly become the very way I was meant to live.
My roughly 10 years living in the Netherlands brought me a great deal of learning and growth.
It was a little different from the elegant European life I'd pictured, but it turned out to be an irreplaceable stretch of time where I encountered new values, far beyond what I'd imagined.
If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be "patience."
I wish I had a better word for it—
but I don't mean that negatively. Looking back now, I feel it was a positive experience that expanded my own possibilities.
Facing Illness, and Finding Hope Again
About 4 years ago, I left the Netherlands and started a new life alone in Japan.
Days spent taking on this challenge with no job and no support system were one difficulty after another.
Even so, I gradually built a place for myself, bit by bit.
Now, I somehow get by day to day, based in a regional area.
And above all, I'm someone who has come through a serious illness discovered after returning to Japan.
I still can't quite put this into words.
But someday, when I can talk about it naturally, I'd like to write about it again.
Encountering the Scent of Linde
Then, one day, something happened that felt like the Netherlands was "calling" me back.
The Netherlands had once held a lot of painful memories for me.
But when I visited again, that place welcomed me with a warmth that surprised me.
"I lived somewhere this wonderful?" I remember feeling deeply moved and healed by that thought.
On that trip, I encountered the aromas of De Groene Linde.
The moment I picked one up, I couldn't tear myself away. I didn't even know myself why I was drawn to it this strongly.
With my return to Japan approaching, I worked up the nerve to send De Groene Linde an email.
"I think I somehow really love your products."
Rico, the founder's son, responded warmly even to this out-of-the-blue message.
Right before I left, I emailed saying, "I'll be stopping by the showroom, so if it works for you, I'd love to at least say hello"—and he actually came to meet me at the station.
We ended up talking for hours, and the conversation naturally turned toward the idea of a business together.
"Go ahead and do it your own way!" he told me.
In that moment, I felt, for the first time, like someone had truly seen and accepted me, and I remember my heart suddenly feeling lighter.
The Meaning Behind the Name FUUKA
And so I launched the brand "FUUKA," to bring De Groene Linde's products to Japan.
The name carries a wish:
"May scent be as free as the wind, and naturally weave itself into people's daily lives."
Scent heals the heart and quietly gives us the strength to face forward.
Through this blog, I hope to share the appeal of scent, ways to use it, and the joy I've felt myself.
Through FUUKA's scents, I hope you'll find new discoveries and richness in your everyday life.
In Closing
May the wish behind the name FUUKA reach quietly into someone's life, like the wind.
Today, and tomorrow too, may you stay true to yourself, carried by scent.
This is my story.
I'm still finding my way day by day, but I want to keep walking a path that feels true to myself, and comfortable.
With the hope that this scent will find its way, gently, to whoever needs it.
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