Before she found her new calling in the Coastal Bend, Japanese calligraphy artist Suzy Cruz just looked for a place to dress up in her kimono. Newly arrived in South Texas, homesick and searching for any connection to the culture she left behind, she walked into the Texas State Museum of Asian Cultures and asked if the staff needed help.
“I went and asked them if I could do cleaning work,” she said. “[I told them] that I wanted to connect with Japanese culture, and they said that I could have a booth in an event.”
Now, whether teaching students and strangers during live calligraphy demonstrations or showing off her sushi skills, she transforms some of Japan’s most cherished traditions into engaging, accessible experiences tailored for American audiences. In the year since arriving in Rockport, her artistry and passion for cultural exchange have already strengthened Japanese representation throughout the Coastal Bend.
Kamakura, Suzy’s hometown, draws visitors from around the world with its towering bronze Buddha statue and historic shrines and temples, but to Suzy, those celebrated landmarks were simply home. Leaving these pieces of her history behind and coming to America, she found the absence of familiar customs left her feeling disconnected.
“Being surrounded by beautiful scenery, history and Japanese traditions [my whole life], it naturally shaped who I am,” she said. “Suddenly I moved to the U.S., and the food is different, the lifestyle is different, even the interior [of the] house is different.”
Still, love carried her across the globe. Although she loved her life in Japan, Suzy said yes to marriage and a move across the world in 2025. The couple settled permanently in Rockport that October.
Once the dust had settled, Suzy finally had time to miss home. Without a driver’s license, a social circle or the routines that anchored her life, she struggled to find a sense of belonging. Even the smallest act of comfort for her had disappeared: wearing her kimono.
“I felt an identity loss, like I wasn’t myself here,” she said. “In order to feel again like myself, I wanted to create an opportunity to wear a kimono somehow. That’s when my husband found the museum.”
Starting with a simple matcha workshop, Suzy’s contributions to the museum quickly snowballed. She described her demonstrations as approachable introductions to Japanese ceremonies, adapting centuries-old traditions for audiences experiencing them for the first time. Now almost a year into her volunteer work, Suzy presents perfectly personalized live calligraphy demonstrations in which she takes time to learn about each participant before selecting Japanese kanji characters that reflect their personality and aspirations, as well as kimono experiences for all ages and sushi workshops she often takes around the city — all uniquely informed by her previous life.
“She’s amazing, like a superwoman,” Yohko Phillips said. A leader of the local Japanese Taiko Drum Club, an active museum volunteer and one of Suzy’s close friends, Phillips also found fond familiarity within the museum’s exhibits. She described how Suzy’s energy, expertise and passion for cultural exchange have the potential to reshape the region’s understanding of Japanese culture.
“She has no limit [to what she can do],” she continued. “She has such a great personality. I really wanted somebody who could be like a spokesman for Japanese culture [in the Coastal Bend], and she is. ”
For Suzy, her work in the Coastal Bend has only just begun. What started as a search for belonging turned into long-lasting friendships, community connections and new opportunities to stay connected to the culture she left behind.
As she prepares for her next pop-up, whether at the museum or expanding to other local businesses, catch her documenting her sweet life on socials, practicing Spanish with her new local friends and, at last, finding comfort once again within the sleeves of her kimono.
Contact: @suzy.mihoko.japan | rinjapanexperience.com
