About Us


Hello! Thank you for visiting My Store “Otherwayside”

My name is Maiko I own and curate for this store. I am originally from Japan, I have been living in NZ for 23 years. My Unique and Beautiful concept store "Otherwayside" has started a few years ago when I became a mother to my daughter Mei. I felt a very strong needs to reconnect with my own root. during this time I became very interested in my own cultural traditional art and craftsmanship, I left my home country and moved to New Zealand in my teenage years so I only had a small knowledge of my own culture.

Japan is very well known for traditional Art and the beautiful process of making things. I especially interested in pieces that are made of natural resources.by growing up in the countryside of Japan and spending my youth in New Zealand has made me become very conscious of the environment and materials that are made from.

I travel back to Japan every year to visit various locations mainly to reconnect with Japanese culture and discover beautiful and interesting pieces which represent Japanese history.

My Main curations are Hasami & Mino Porcelains which has more than 400 years of production history and Handmade vintage textiles such as Kimono, Haori which are from 20's - 80's era. 

I attend various local Markets and events to sell specially curated pieces.