Last year was a rough one for me, for many reasons. Aside from the usual life stressors that accompany being a thirty-something woman in America in 2025, I was struggling to emerge from the depths of my grief after losing my dad in the spring. There is nothing that can prepare you for that type of heartache, even when you're surrounded by boundless love and support from your friends and loved ones. The toll it takes on your heart, and your mental health, cannot be overstated. Still, after several months cocooning myself in my Brooklyn apartment, I found myself with the opportunity to travel to Japan, a dream destination that I had always wanted to visit. It felt like a sign that maybe, just maybe, the weight of my circumstances wouldn't continue to feel like it had for the previous five months (namely endless and unyielding). In other words, when Shizu Okusa, the founder of Apothékary, calls, you answer—and then you get on the damn plane.
Though our circumstances for coming to Japan (or in Okusa's sake, coming back) are different, the purpose is relatively similar. "When shit hits the fan, you really have the opportunity to do an inventory of your mental health," she tells me over Zoom. The Wall Street alum knows a thing or two about a high intensity lifestyle. So, "I took some time off and I went to Japan." Her parents were both born and eventually emigrated to Canada separately (they met and married in Vancouver). But the call of her ancestral homeland never faded from Okusa's mind.
