Yoshihiro “Yoshi” Sakamoto is a native of Wakayama, Japan. From an early age Yoshi lived with plants and flowers, and was greatly influenced by both his grandfather and father. Yoshi’s grandfather migrated to California as a young man, and worked on farms and gardens which were developing the flower industry in California in the early 20th Century. Yoshi’s father stayed behind in Japan as a boy, an eventually ran his own farm in rural Wakayama Prefecture in Western Japan, where Yoshi was born. When Yoshi was still young, his grandfather return to Japan to introduce new flower varieties.
Yoshihiro Sakamoto
In this environment, Yoshi grew up in the “school of nature.” He attended the Wakayama School of Horticulture and worked in local garden centers. From school he continued gaining experience in flower shops and within a short time joined a flower studio in a five-star hotel in Osaka. In addition to this extensive on-the-job training, Yoshi began to study privately with one of Japan’s leading floral designers, Yoko Moroizumi. These private lessons continued for a number of years until Yoshi was accepted into the internationally renowned Constance Spry Flower School in England, where he learned the English style.
Yoshi graduated top in his class in England, then returned to Japan. In Japan he served as a designer at the first-ever International Flower Exposition in 1990. After EXPO, Yoshi became the first director of Floral Design at the Technical College of Horticulture. At TCH, and later for another local vocational school, Yoshi developed curriculum for “floral design for weddings” courses.
As a student, a trainee, a horticulturist, a floral designer, and as a teacher, Yoshi has broad experience. In 1996 Yoshi opened his own private floral business, “Studio Watermark.” He operated from his own home, where he trained local floral shop operators and their employees.
Yoshi arrived in the United States in 2001 to accept an invitation from an American florist and to gain experience in American styles. To acknowledge and promote Yoshi's own unique style, the name Floral Design Studio "Flowers by Yoshi" was adopted in 2002.
