In Kabira, on Ishigaki Island in Okinawa, live a couple named Kengo and Sayaka Yoshida.
They make the loincloth brand "Yoshida no Fundoshi" and run a guesthouse that hosts just one group at a time.
My painting hangs in their guesthouse. It has been more than ten years since we first met.
Photo: Mermaid nao
Kengo, dependable like a big brother
Kengo is a truly warm person.
Whenever I have been unsure about my art or the direction ahead, I have gone to him for advice many times.
He has a wealth of experience and has an answer for anything I ask. He is like a dependable big brother to me.
Kengo also gives readings as an "In-Yo Rokugyo" (yin-yang six elements) reader. He writes calligraphy under the name "Taira Sōhō" (平想紡), and his calligraphy is wonderfully cool.
And he is cool and handsome, too.
Sayaka, bright and openhearted
Sayaka is lovely and beautiful.
Her openhearted brightness always soothes me and gives me energy.
Under the name "Saaya," she also works as a visceral bodywork practitioner. She gives sessions inside "Michitemo, Kaketemo," a womb-care shop on Ishigaki, and also offers home visits.
Her page describes the idea that "you are your own body's doctor." Her bodywork was born from the belief that people have a natural power to heal, and from a wish to support people who care for their own bodies and take responsibility for their own lives.
I see Sayaka's character in the way she looks at the body as a whole, including emotions as well as lifestyle and the state of the internal organs.
Saaya's bodywork page (Japanese)
A portrait, and a thank-you video
Some time ago, I drew a portrait of the two of them.
I no longer take portrait commissions, but when I sent them the picture they were so happy that they even sent me a video to say thank you.
It made me so happy that I still remember it.
I am always learning from the way they relate to people. The way they build relationships with their guests is truly wonderful.
Their guesthouse
Their guesthouse, near Kabira Bay, hosts only one group at a time.
On Airbnb it has a 4.87 rating from 173 reviews and is listed among the top 10% of homes (as of October 2026). What reviewers mention most is the couple's hospitality.
I hope that, at least once in your life, you will go to Ishigaki and meet them. It might change how you see life. That is the kind of couple they are.
The Yoshidas' guesthouse on Airbnb
I am truly grateful to have met such wonderful people, and to have my paintings displayed in their places.
I will never forget this kindness, and I hope to become an artist who can one day give something back.
I am filled with gratitude for these connections.
Sources
Saaya visceral bodywork page (Peraichi)
Instagram (Kengo Yoshida profile)
Airbnb (the Yoshidas' guesthouse)
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