Noriko Imura 井村紀子
Title: Character lunch box is Love and Dream.
Noriko was born and raised in Tokyo, where her father was a senior superintendent in the Metropolitan Police Department. Noriko was raised in a strict family where her mother was a bank employee.
However, she had an adventurous and curious childhood.
She loved the theater and dreamed of becoming a stage actress, cartoonist, singer-songwriter, designer, and so on. She was attracted to America.
"While attending a community college, I wanted to try everything.
I went to auditions and worked part-time at a music agency. After graduation, I worked as a studio booker for recording singers from Japan and as a coordinator for arranging and photographing American musicians."
She married a Japanese American and at that time she was scouted by Mrs. Japan for the Mrs. version of the Miss Contest called “Mrs. Woman of the World.” She won the contest and represented Japan as Mrs. Japan. She participated in the Mrs. International contest in Hawaii. The scene was broadcasted on TV in the U.S. "It was a great honor and made me realize my pride as a Japanese person."
After that, she got divorced and was recommended by the vice president of a construction company to take charge of the company and was given a big role to manage the company. In the days before the burst of the bubble economy. She went to Canada, Italy, France, Chicago and Oregon to buy the materials needed to build the house. She remarried after 8 years of working for this construction company and she had a son. However, the head office of the company went bankrupt due to a 500 million yen fraud. She lost her job. It was a difficult experience with a three-month-old baby.
"There was an opening at a Japanese TV station, and I applied. I got an interview. I was asked to do a cooking program. It was not a project, but an appearance, and I became a cooking teacher! I thought, This could be a chance to change my life in some way, so I accepted the job. In the end, the TV cooking show lasted for a few years, but the company closed its doors. However, if I had the chance to do it again I always hoped that I would have another chance to try my hand at cooking. If you wish for it, it will come true! I really had that chance. 'Changing the world with onigiri, When you eat an onigiri, a warm school lunch is delivered to children in Africa and Asia.' I met a person from a non-profit organization that deals with hunger in developing countries, and taught people how to make onigiri at an event. I taught people how to make onigiri at the event. I also designed my own character lunch box. I also designed our own character lunch box and held a Hello Kitty lunch box workshop at Tanaka Farm in OC, a summer event in Little Tokyo, an event at the Japanese American Museum, and a Sanrio lunch box workshop. I've had the pleasure of teaching demonstration classes at all kinds of events, from adults to children.Americans are very interested in kyaraben(character lunch box). It is a new type of Japanese bento that can be enjoyed by both parents and children. Through kyaraben, I want people to have communication, dreams, hopes, and the joy of making kyaraben. With this in mind, I am working hard every day to make kyaraben. With the postponement of the event in Corona, I have also revived the Zoom class and cooking program, which is held every Monday morning on KXLA 44.1 channel, from 6:55 to 7:00am, "Where we Goin?" I'm also the producer of "Where We Goin Today?"
For the Tulips in Harmony Christmas Concert in 2021, she collaborated with Maruhide on the design of the popular "Un-dan Shuto" and the "Un-dan Bento" at the Un-dan Club. "In the future, I would like to open a kyaraben dojo on Youtube and hold a kyaraben contest in the future. My dreams are expanding."