IN PURSUIT OF THE SOCIETY
WHERE A WOMAN CAN STAND
ON HER OWN FEET
AND HAVE A DREAM FOR THE FUTURE

As my husband quit his job when I gave birth to my first child, I had to work no matter what. I visited companies which advertised for illustrators in the newspaper, and marketed myself with my baby sleeping in my car."

She worked for a trading house, where she met her husband. But she had enjoyed drawing pictures since her high-school days and once studied drawing at an art studio. She thought she would be able to work at home as a freelance illustrator.

"Fortunately, some of the companies were interested in my illustrations. Before long, I also began to write advertisement copy." In the early days, she didn't know how to make out delivery notes or bills. Even while making many mistakes, she learned by doing. This experience was one of her motives for setting up a network later.

Although she steadily expanded her business, getting orders from many companies, she found herself feeling lonely working alone at home. She decided that she needed comrades. Assuming that must be many freelance workers who shared her sentiments, she made an appeal in the newspapers and other media for cooperation in "making a telephone directory to help freelance workers advertise themselves." She received numerous inquiries. Together with 312 women, she published a book entitled "WANA Kansai Book," which offers information on activities of women freelancers. "At the publication party, held in May 1995, 200 women gathered and exchanged business cards, which was a spectacular sight. We immediately decided to organize a group and WANA Kansai was inaugurated."