CONNECT COMMUNITY
An entrepreneur, blogger, and mother, Teni Wada is transforming the sustainable beauty industry in Japan. Originally from America, Teni started her life in Japan working in the fashion industry. She was mesmerized by Shibuya fashion. However, after several years, “fast fashion” brands like H&M and Forever 21 began to take hold and the Shibuya fashion that she loved was losing popularity. As a result she decided to attend graduate school and focused on second language acquisition, which led to early childhood education and teaching at international kindergartens. During her maternity leave she decided to start her own blog about motherhood in Japan; The Wagamama Diaries. Finally, as a result of a business design contest through her city hall, she decided to create her own online business. Though she says it took a year of paperwork and strategic planning, everything seems to have paid off in the end. Teni’s core product is a clay beauty mask, the main ingredient of which is komatsuna or Japanese mustard spinach. The locally produced spinach is very popular in her town of Edogawa. As of publication, her sustainable beauty brand EDO BEAUTY LAB has been up and running for three months. 106 |
