Misato was born in Shizuoka, Japan, and attended college in the U.S. After earning an associate degree in business administration at Pasadena City College, she transferred to the University of Hawaiʻi in travel industry management. In her last semester there, she took a course in glass with Rick Mills which changed her career direction. Since that time, she has taken every opportunity to study glass, mastering both blown glass and fused cast glass techniques.
With her husband, Michael, whom she met in a glass workshop, she helped to develop the current work being produced in their glass studio in Volcano. In addition to assisting him, Misato has designed her own series based on the interpretation of the natural rainforest surroundings.
“I like transparency and the reaction to the light, as qualities of glass. The glass reflects and refracts light and creates illusions of light and shadow. Our studio is deep in the rainforest, and the rainforest reflects the same interplay of light and illusion. Also, here in Hawaiʻi, the ocean is a part of our life. The ocean does the same trick as well.”