About Us

Some ideas begin with a single question. Ours was simple: why don't more people in Europe know about the extraordinary craftspeople quietly working in Japan?

Not tourist souvenirs. Not mass-produced exports. But the incense maker in a small Kyoto workshop who has been perfecting the same recipe for thirty years. The craftsperson in Takasaki who hand-paints every daruma with quiet intention. The kintsugi artist who believes that what is broken can become more beautiful than what was whole.

These makers exist. Their work is remarkable. And most of the world will never encounter it — not because it isn't extraordinary, but because no one has built the bridge yet.

Tokyoslo is that bridge.

Who we are

Debbie, Oh, Maiya, and Jun came together in Tokyo from four different corners of the world. The concept and the name — Tokyoslo — grew from Debbie's vision of a place where Japanese craft and Nordic living could finally find each other. What the four of us share is a quiet obsession with the Japanese approach to making things: the patience, the precision, the philosophy that every object deserves to be made well.

Oh is an artist whose watercolour practice has given her a painter's eye for beauty and authenticity. She speaks Japanese fluently and understands the maker's world from the inside.

Maiya grew up between Norway and Japan — which means she understands both worlds not as an outsider, but as someone who has lived inside both cultures. She knows the Nordic sensibility intimately: the appreciation for quality over quantity, for objects that earn their place.

Jun is Japanese with a strong international perspective. She bridges the world of Japanese makers and the global market with ease.

Together we speak Japanese, Norwegian, Cantonese, Thai, and English. More importantly, we know how to listen.

What we do

We work with Japanese makers and lifestyle brands who have extraordinary craft but no clear path into the European market. Through cultural consulting, brand storytelling, and direct business introductions, we help them find the right audience — businesses, buyers, and partners in Europe who will genuinely value what they make.

For makers, we handle the things that are hardest to do from Japan: understanding European taste, navigating EU regulations, writing a brand story that resonates across cultures, and opening doors to buyers who are looking for exactly what you make — they just don't know you exist yet.

For European businesses, we offer something different: access to Japanese makers who aren't actively selling internationally. The ones with the deepest craft and the least visibility. The ones worth knowing.

What we believe

Japan has understood slow living for centuries. The Nordic countries share this sensibility — a reverence for materials, for function, for quiet beauty. Tokyoslo exists in the space where these two cultures meet and recognise each other.

We are not a shop. We are a bridge — between makers and markets, between cultures, between extraordinary craft and the people who will treasure it.

Every maker we work with is chosen because we believe their story deserves to be told and their work deserves to be seen. We visit. We listen. We learn the intention behind each object before we ever introduce it to the world.