​I moved to the United States from Japan in 2002 as a teacher. When one of my students wanted to trade leatherworking lessons for Japanese language classes, I said yes and began my journey into leather designing in Nashville Indiana. After several years of leather study, I gave up teaching to do leather working full time, and in 2008 opened up a small store in Nashville Indiana. K.Bellum Leather still features handbags and other leather goods that I design and make, but after moving around the United States with my family, I gave up the brick-and-mortar shop and have moved the business online. I continue, however, to sell my goods at Gainesville Artisan Guild in Gainesville Florida. My designs are intended to be useful as well as artistic. I combine the best features of traditional Japanese aesthetic design and American artistic innovation to produce leather products that are beautiful and will last for years.