We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Yoko Oko a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Yoko, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I’m half Japanese (dad’s side), half American (mom’s side). I was never taught what being biracial could look like, what it meant to be culturally different from others, and what all of that could entail. I wasn’t white enough. I wasn’t Asian enough. I felt like I could never fit anywhere. While growing, I still dealt with bullying and getting picked on for my last name and my “smelly” lunches. As a young woman and adult, I dealt with men’s gross curiosity and yellow fever. It made me feel like some weird fraud. I experienced Asian hate, racism, and microaggression. I didn’t feel like I could owe my pain let alone did I feel like I had any who experienced the same while holding space for me. The shooting at an Atlanta Spa in March of 2021 and the rise of Asian hate crimes made me realize that it was time to share my story. Open up about my experiences while educating others outside of the AAPI community.
I used my gift of drawing to design a Daruma doll sticker that says “Stop Hating Asians” in Japanese (my dad helped me with the translation). I wanted to raise money for the org Stop AAPI Hate while providing something visual conversation piece for supporters share with their community or anyone who was curious about the sticker.
Because of this fundraiser, I was able to connect with other activists within the AAPI community across the States and even outside of the country. These connections have led to me other projects that are centered around cultural appropriation which is another passion topic of mine! I’ve been so grateful to be able to honor myself, my experiences, and help educate others!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

The name is Yoko Ono (technically my last name is Ohno). I’m a failed comedian and educator at heart living in Nashville, TN with my rescue bunny Indi. I always loved drawing while growing up, but as you get older there are only so many extra curriculars your parents can afford and have time for. My grandfather was a famous Japanese country singer and my dad was in a rock band, so choosing music seemed the most logical choice. After my parents divorce in 2014, I finally realized I wasn’t doing music for me anymore. I changed my major from music education to public relations with the hopes of graduating. I felt a lot of imposter syndrome while dealing depression and anxiety.
One night, I just started thinking about how I wish I could capture the beauty of the mountains, planets, stars, and galaxies. Things that made me feel safe and grounded. There’s one piece that was my “Wow, I’m actually good at this” moment which was a chem glove holding erlenmeyer flask that had planets inside it. I posted in on IG not thinking much of it and waking up to almost 600 likes. I started exploring expressing my feelings through art and decided to take a shot in selling them at a market in 2018. I always imagined using my grandmother’s name Kuniko, which is also my middle name. Thus was born my shop Kuniko Creates.
Something that was a challenge for me when first kicking off my small business was that I didn’t have a a specific theme or niche. I felt like I could be missing out on sales and potential customers because of this. It made me take a couple of steps back and ask myself “What is my goal here?” The answer – connecting with people who like the same weird shit as I do and making them feel seen.
Kuniko Creates is a shop filled with expressive art and unique gifts – inspired by nature, women, nostalgia, and spooky/witchy vibes.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

When someone gets excited or blown away by my work or they recognize it from a favorite show or movie. There is honestly no greater feeling. I feel so incredibly honored when I see people relate to my art or maybe it gave them a piece of something they were looking for all along.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

The best advice I can give to those starting to build a social media presence is to record everything you’re doing and share your story. There are so many rules out there with Instagram and now even Tiktok is getting harder to gain an audience. As long as you stay true to your mission/goal, you’ll always succeed. Don’t ever let numbers or likes stop you from sharing your story and gift! I built my audience off of being transparent and vulnerable. I stopped worrying about followers and likes. Setting those intentions and boundaries allowed me to connect with so many lovely people and do what makes me happy, fulfilled, and most like myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/KunikoCreates
• Instagram: kuniko.creates