I was born into a family of Japanese art & antiques dealers in rural Japan (Kyushu, the southernmost island). Surrounded as I was by traditional Japanese textiles and all sorts of Japanese art/antique I naturally developed a love and appreciation of them. While in those days women were not supposed to be involved as dealers, nonetheless, I was mentored by my grandfather and my father, both of whom were dealers selling to Japanese antique dealers etc from the city.

I moved to the USA in 1977 with my husband Dana and daughter Michelle and very quickly became involved in the collectible and antique scene in Pennsylvania, in particular Lancaster County (Amish country) and southeast PA.

In 1989, after our daughter went off to college I started an export-import business specializing first in textiles and collectibles. In time we moved onto the internet as www.yokodana.com in 1998 and as we all know, it's been quite a ride for all of us since then on the wild wild web.

My true love is older Japanese kimono and fabrics from pre-1970, when they were made in Japan, many by-hand. While I admire the ornate wedding kimono(s), I'm more partial to the vintage everyday-wear garments. As my sister and brother in law are in the recycling business, and a family friend has a large company dealing in vintage & textiles Japan-wide, it was a natural progression for me to deal in vintage kimono on my Etsy Store.

We've been catering to artists, quilters, hobbyists and a variety of creative modalities (it's amazing how people use these vintage kimonos!) and in the last few years we've narrowed our focus to vintage Japanese fabrics and kimonos sold in bulk by pound -- 10lbs minimum.

On etsy.com I find many kindred spirits and thought it would be nice to offer my bulk vintage kimono by the pound. As time goes on I may add some things I and my sisters in Japan (master level kimono-makers) have made using our vintage kimono fabrics.