： THE ORIGIN OF DEVOA Ⅲ

The Miracle at Notre Dame Cathedral

This chapter is not about fashion, but rather how the brand DEVOA is a reflection of who I am.
It is a mysterious true story that has had a great influence on both my heart and my thinking even until today.
The impact it had on my aspirations and compassion helped me to grow as a person and transform the brand in a big way.

Ever since I was a child, I have been reluctant to believe in anything that I cannot see, hear, touch or feel and I have basically lived my life believing only in things that I could physically experience myself.
What I am about to tell you is about strange experiences that happened to me right in front of my eyes and consequently had a huge impact on my heart.
This situation and the invisible force involved were a wonderful surprise for me.

From here on, I would like to tell you the story of my childhood friend, Eisuke.
Eisuke and I were childhood friends from the age of about 5 to 15. Our houses were about a 5-minute walk away from each other and we attended the same school together every day.
Eisuke’s family ran a cake shop and were relatively wealthy for the local area.
They had quite a large house with a cake-making studio and large sales space on the first floor, and a living space on the second floor.
Every day, when Eisuke came home from school, he would receive pocket money from his mother, and it was his habit to take that money and go shopping for sweets with me.
We experienced so much together since about 5 years old and the memories of those times are still fresh in my heart.

I moved away from home in for my high school years to start wrestling, while Eisuke went to a local high school so that we each went on to live our own separate lives.
When I was a wrestler, I rarely had any days off and so I only went back to my parents’ house about once a year. Although I would talk to Eisuke on the phone, I never had the chance to meet him again after I was 15 years old.

Years passed, and after graduating from confectionery school, Eisuke got a job as a pastry chef at a famous hotel in Fukuoka Prefecture.
He envisioned a future in which he would use the skills he gained at the hotel and take over his family-run cake business.

When Eisuke was 23 years old something strange began to happen to his health.
His was eventually diagnosed with a serious illness : acute leukemia.
His battle with the illness began immediately but, unfortunately his heart was not able to hold out for very long.

About seven years later, I was preparing for the second DEVOA exhibition in Paris when I began to think constantly about Eisuke.
I decided to travel back from Tokyo to Eisuke’s parents’ house so that I could offer a prayer at his Buddhist altar.
When I met Eisuke’s mother again after such a long time, she welcomed me as if I were her own son. She told me, with tears in her eyes, of the many memories she had of Eisuke and I together and our childhood stories; of the experiences Eisuke had had and of the experiences he had wanted to have. It felt as if Eisuke was there with us in the room and we were reminiscing about old times together.
I could not imagine, if I were in the same position as Eisuke’s mother, the extent of the sadness and regret she must have been feeling.

In that moment I was hit by a flash of inspiration and I made a suggestion to Eisuke’s mother : that I could take some memento that would represent Eisuke with me and leave it in Paris.

I did not know for sure if Eisuke had wanted to go to Paris but I felt that, if I were in his position, he would have wanted to gain experience as a pastry chef. It was this notion that inspired me to want to receive some keepsake that could transport his soul to Paris.
So, to that end, I once again traveled the six hour one way journey back from Tokyo to Eisuke’s parents’ house, just before the Paris exhibition.
Eisuke’s mother was happy with my proposal and entrusted me with “Eisuke’s key”. This was the key to the apartment that Eisuke had used right up until his untimely death, which had his name written on it.

And so the second Devoa Paris exhibition began ( the story of which was already described in The Origin of DEVOA II ).

“Eisuke’s Key” and went sightseeing around all in Paris / The banks of the Seine

After the exhibition, I took “Eisuke’s Key” and went sightseeing around all the famous places in Paris.
This was only my second exhibition in Paris, so I went to all the many tourist spots that I had been unable to visit the first time.
On my last day before returning home, I planned to walk around the inside of Notre Dame Cathedral with “Eisuke’s Key” and then release it into the waters of the nearby Seine River.

I reverentially held the tip of “Eisuke’s Key” in both my hands and, with the front part where his name was written facing outward, walked around Notre Dame as if carrying a holy cross.

View from Montmartre / Palais Royal in 2009 / Beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral in 2009

I had already visited Notre Dame after my first Paris exhibition, and so this was my second experience there.
The last time I came, there had been fewer tourists and I was able to look around inside at my own relaxed pace.
However, this time with “Eisuke’s Key”, despite it being a weekday the entrance to Notre Dame was so crowded with tourists that people were even queueing to get in.

I had no choice but to get in line and wait about 15 minutes before I could enter.
Inside the Cathedral there were so many tourists that I was constantly bumping into other people.
I desperately held “Eisuke’s key” tightly in my hands close to the center of my body and walked around inside the beautiful building.
I eventually approached the offering candles and used all the coins in my wallet to dedicate candles, along with prayers, to Eisuke.

Eventually after spending about 40 minutes walking around inside the cathedral I finally decided it was time to leave and headed for the exit.
However, It was at this point that I looked down and suddenly realized that “Eisuke’s Key”, which I was supposedly been clutching close to my chest the whole time, had disappeared from my hand.
I had somehow lost “Eisuke’s Key” while wandering around within the walls of Notre Dame.

Thinking back I had certainly been bumping shoulders with many of the tourists in the place as I walked but I knew that I had always been very careful to handle “Eisuke’s Key” with due reverence so I could not believe that I had lost it.
In a panic I immediately began a thorough search of the large cathedral floor helped by my pattern maker who was accompanying me on that day.
While we were searching we blended in with the crowd but while most of the tourists were walking around and looking up at the beautiful stained glass windows and the pipe organ of Notre Dame, the two of us were the only ones who were crouching down and staring intently at the floor.
Looking back on it now I think that we must have presented a very strange spectacle indeed.
The two of us spent about an hour searching the huge floor for the tiny lost item.
We walked everywhere searching frantically until we couldn’t continue any longer and still there was no sign of “Eisuke’s key”.

Even though it was obviously I who had been holding the important key in my hands the whole time I still couldn’t accept that I was responsible for somehow losing it.
My thoughts changed into convincing myself that this was a sign that Eisuke had decided to spend the rest of his time not in the River Seine but inside Notre Dame instead.

Just as I was finally about to give up for good and was heading  towards the exit doors I suddenly found myself confronted by a priest standing directly in front of me. Seeing this as a good sign, and as a final request, I told him that I had lost a key that was extremely important to me.
Since I don’t understand French at all, I had to use a translation app on my phone and desperately tried to type out everything I wanted to say on there.
I then held the screen up to the priest to show him the French that had appeared not knowing if any of it was actually making sense.

Without another word the priest simply reached into his pocket and handed me a key. It was without a doubt “Eisuke’s key.”

The pattern maker and I hugged each other in joy and excitement and thanked the priest profusely.
The priest then began to speak to us in easy-to-understand English and we were able to have a short conversation.

The Priest : “I have visited Japan once; which area are you from?”
Me : “Tokyo, Japan.”
Priest : “I see. I’ve never been to Tokyo, or Kyoto.”
Me : “Where in Japan have you been?”
Priest : “The only place I’ve been to is Nagasaki.”
Me : “……!!”

My pattern maker and I both immediately made eye contact.

The reason being, of course, is that I am from Nagasaki Prefecture and so I earnestly told the priest about my origins and more importantly the story of how I came to bring the key to Paris.

The priest told me simply, “This is fate,” and then left.

It was a very, very strange and baffling experience.
At that time, there were many tourists and about four other people who looked like priests inside Notre Dame. For some reason, that priest was the only one at the exit where we were heading and so he was naturally the only one that I could have asked for help.

Furthermore, when I talked to the priest it turned out that the only place in Japan he had been to was Nagasaki Prefecture, which is a very minor tourist destination and so very improbable.
I highly doubt that if I had asked any other French people besides that particular priest, there would have been any who would say that Nagasaki Prefecture was their first destination in Japan.
So, after an improbable and seemingly miraculous sequence of events “Eisuke’s Key” was finally returned to me.

It was as if Eisuke and I had each explored the interior of Notre Dame separately and were now meeting at the exit to leave together.

At that moment I felt as if we were truly being protected by some higher power.

After this strange experience I continued, as planned, to throw “Eisuke’s key” into the flowing waters of the Seine in a part where the current was not so strong so that the key would be less likely to be swept away.

throw “Eisuke’s key” into the Seine

I took many pictures on the day to mark the occasion so that, after returning to Japan, I could develop two photographs of “Eisuke’s Key” (one taken on the floor of Notre Dame and another on the banks of the Seine) enlarge them to A3 size, frame them and then send them as a gift to Eisuke’s mother.
When Eisuke’s mother received my photographs she called me in tears to thank me again and again.

Today, after this experience, whenever I go to a Paris exhibition, I visit the place on the Seine where “Eisuke’s Key” is located and, while praying, I promise to Eisuke’s soul that I will continue to risk everything in my life to take on the challenge of the next exhibition.

Actual framed photograph

I told her about the “Miracle at Notre Dame” that had happened just before Eisuke’s key was finally thrown into the Seine, and I also expressed my gratitude for having been given such a wonderful experience as a gift by Eisuke.

“Yesterday is history,  Tomorrow is mystery, And Today is a gift.
That is why we call it “present”.
• Quote by Alice Morse Earle

I have never attended a fashion school and when I when I first went to Paris, I only had about three years of experience in designing and making clothes.

When I first began DEVOA I was very nervous about my past and the fact that I was so inexperienced compared to the other designers who had also challenged themselves to show in Paris.

While smiling and interacting with the buyers at the exhibition all I could really think about was how I could pay off the money I owed to the seamstresses and tallying up orders for the domestic exhibition after returning home.

I used to continually worry about my past and future but thanks to the lesson learned from “Eisuke’s Key”, I learned that today will always be the most important day of all.

Even now Devoa is still a very small company and every exhibition is a still a challenge.
Most people live with anxiety and are plagued by fears about the uncertainty of the future.
However, I think it’s important to enjoy the present and so I remain grateful to all the people I’ve met and all the lessons learned.
It is my wish that I may continue to enjoy this journey of creation until the very moment that my heart stops beating.