Akemi Sagawa was born and grew up in Japan, and moved to the US in 1994 to pursue her business career. Formerly with Microsoft then as a founder of a software startup which was eventually acquired, she had firsthand experience of how the practice of ikebana saved her from being crashed by the emotional rollercoaster. Convinced that Japan’s centuries-old cultural traditions such as Ikebana and tea ceremony have a lot to offer to the modern world, Akemi founded Five Senses Foundation in 2017 to share the universal value of Japanese traditional cultures to the world by making them relevant within the context of today’s lifestyle.
Akemi teaches Sogetsu Ikebana flower arrangements. She is also dedicated to the practice of Tea Ceremony through the Urasenke School. Akemi serves as President of Ikebana International Seattle Chapter 19, and a Board Member at Japan-America Society of Washington State and Chado Urasenke Tankokai Seattle Association.
Akemi received her law degree from Kyoto University and her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Working for Microsoft Japan and later Microsoft Headquarters in Seattle, Akemi was the first product manager of Microsoft Word in Japan and led the launch of Windows 95 in the Asian countries. After leaving Microsoft in 2000, Akemi founded Bluetooth software company Open Interface North America and spearheaded its growth until Qualcomm acquired the company in 2007.