TAKAHISA SUNAOSHI

From studying fashion to telling its stories

After studying fashion at ESMOD TOKYO and coconogacco, I began my career as a fashion journalist. Alongside a regular column for the Mainichi Shimbun and contributions to WWD JAPAN MAGAZINE, I covered not only fashion, but also art, music, and culture.

Guided by a “Love of Fashion”

I later heard the late Kazuyuki Yamamuro—a father figure in Japan’s fashion industry—say shortly before his passing, “What matters most now is a love of fashion.” Deeply moved by those words, I joined INFAS Publications.

I spent five years as Chief Planner at WWDJAPAN.com. There, I helped build the foundation of the site as it exists today, leading a major redesign, developing advertising products, and creating branded content projects for more than 100 brands across fashion, beauty, and lifestyle.

As the digital platform was still in its formative years, I worked across many roles—including Creative Director, Web Director, Planner, and Marketer—developing the multidisciplinary direction skills that continue to shape my work today.

Beyond Industries, Inspiring Action to Create Something Better

After completing my chapter at WWDJAPAN.com, I founded STEKKEY Inc. in 2018.

Drawing on cognitive science and behavioral psychology, I strategically design who needs to hear what, why it matters, and how it should be communicated. This approach to communication design helps people understand, empathize, and act.

Today, STEKKEY operates across three areas: agency services, hands-on business support, and proprietary AI and IT ventures.

My work ranges from STORY CHAT, developed in response to a request from Veuve Clicquot and later honored with a GOOD DESIGN Award, to Yosemile, a digital service designed to deepen human connection during the social distancing of the pandemic. For both services, I led everything from concept development to production direction.

Working independently alongside AI, I also developed SFT—Semantic Framing Translator—a self-care AI that translates users’ emotions and supports personal growth. SFT was later nominated in both the Wildcard and For Humanity categories of an official global competition hosted by OpenAI, selected from among 8,738 participants worldwide.

Everything Is About Communicating the Essence—and Moving Things Forward

Since founding STEKKEY, I have worked across an ever-expanding range of roles: Producer, Creative Director, Planner, Copywriter, Marketer, Web Director, Project Manager, and Prompt Engineer. This multidisciplinary approach has broadened both my perspective and my ability to direct across different fields—sometimes to the point that people say, “It’s difficult to describe what you do in a single phrase.”

Yet one principle remains constant, regardless of the medium or role: a commitment to communicating the essence.

As an extension of that work, I write columns as a Yahoo! News Expert, examining fashion through the wider contexts of entertainment and business. A number of these columns have also been featured on Yahoo! News Topics.

Observe. Think. Express. Bring to Life.

Every day, I observe shifts in society and culture—and how people respond to them. The insights and questions that emerge become stories and perspectives that I share through Yahoo! News, my podcast, and Instagram.

On Yahoo! News, I identify changes unfolding in society and articulate my own perspective. On my podcast, I explore the values and structures behind them. On Instagram, I express the work I have helped create and the worldview behind it. Through STEKKEY, I bring these ideas into the world in collaboration with companies and brands.

I see these not as separate pursuits, but as one continuous process: observe, think, express, and bring to life. The perspectives I develop through independent publishing and exploration inform my planning, creative direction, and communication design.

Creating Something That Will Outlive Me

In the future, I hope to create stylish, comfortable shopping streets across Japan and around the world—places where friends and their children will want to spend time.

I also envision a SMART VILLAGE where a basic income can become a reality. Ultimately, I want to leave behind a company and a culture that will endure beyond my lifetime.