Mika spent 15 years in the United States after moving there at the age of 13. During her junior year of college, she studied intercultural communication at the International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo as an exchange student, where she first began seeing Japanese culture through a Western perspective.

In her 50s, she discovered chanoyu, and it became a journey of reconnecting with her own roots. Through tea, she found a deeper appreciation for Japanese culture and a renewed sense of pride and joy in her heritage.