A testament to the determination, passion and hard work she brings to her personal and professional life, she quotes the best advice she's ever received as 'have your own internal drive'. Something she clearly hasn't taken lightly, at a mere 24 years of age, she became the first Japanese born principal artist in Australia.
Now a few years into the dream, she shares her words of wisdom with us. Meet the inimitable Ako Kondo, captured in Melbourne by Ivana Martyn for The Aje Report.