Her journey

A day in the life of Shuga with PLEATS PLEASE

Part 1 : Back to Kyoto

Actor Shuga Ohashi is just at the start of her career. She studied musical theater, film and drama at The Hartt School in Connecticut (USA), then pursued acting for a year in New York City before returning to Japan in the Fall of 2024.

She decided to become an actor at age 15:
“When I was 14, my father told me it was about time I decided what I wanted to do as my life’s work. But I couldn’t decide, so I gave my parents a presentation about how I could narrow down my choices if I went to New York and had the opportunity to experience different things- mostly entertainment and culture. I begged them to send me.”

Her parents listened, and she traveled alone to New York during Winter break when she was 15 years old:
“I went to lots of museums, but when I saw a Broadway musical, I knew that was what I wanted to do. The one that really did it for me was ‘Finding Neverland,’ the story of the author of Peter Pan. Laura Michelle Kelly’s acting spoke to me, and I knew I wanted to do that too.”

Shuga wants to spend the next several years working in Japan. She continues to audition for parts while working at a casting company in Tokyo and as a personal assistant to a music producer.

In March, she returned to her hometown of Kyoto. She could not get there in time for the cherry blossoms, but the willows on the banks of the Kamogawa River were a beautiful light green, and the people on the streets were happy and bright, buoyed by the prospect of a new season.

She used her time back in Kyoto to visit the places that had the most impact on her, the places where childhood memories were made.

Shuga studied ballet from ages 3 to 18, and visited the old studio and her teacher upon her return. She reconfirmed how the twice-weekly classical ballet classes provided the seeds for her current creativity, which these days is mostly jazz dance.

She also visited the farm in Ohara where she spent a year in a children’s farming program when she was 6 years old.

And the Kamogawa Delta where she would read her books.

Shijo Ohashi bridge where she would walk and talk with friends.

Her mother still lives in Kyoto:
“Mom would often wear PLEATS PLEASE, and my first experience with the brand was hand-me-downs from her. I was a teenager then. When we traveled, Mom and I would share clothes.”

Gazing at Daimonji-yama from the banks of the Kamogawa River, as a child, she and her Mother would visit the Bon Festival on their bicycles. In high school, she climbed the mountain almost every month.

“More than the city, I feel like I’m connected to Ohara with its rivers and mountains and nature. I used to think that there wasn’t a place for me in Kyoto, even though I lived here for 18 years. Now, coming back, I realize that this is the place that formed me. It is one of the places I belong.”

Shuga has a clear goal for this year; to make a short film. Acting is a profession in which you usually wait for the work to come to you, but she wants to take the lead, produce something on her own, and see how that changes her prospectives. In this photo story, we trace her creative process.

Worn by: Shuga Ohashi—Styling by Shuga Ohashi. Accessories, bags, and other small items are from her personal wardrobe.
Photography: Kazumasa Harada
Hair and Makeup: Teruaki Shinjo (SHISEIDO)
Content: Tamaki Harada and Mari Nakayama (Cawaii Factory)
Concept and Direction: Midori Kitamura
Production: ISSEY MIYAKE INC.