Who we are
Hiraya Jewels began as the collaborative work of a childhood friends duo – Lisa & Yuka.
Get to know who we are and why we started:
We both were born in the city of Manila in the Philippines. Both having Filipina mothers and Japanese fathers, we were raised in multi-cultural households which stayed true to Filipino values like hospitality and adaptability, while adapting traditional Japanese principles like harmony and respect. Our families have been close friends for as long as we can remember, with our earliest memories in life involving one another. Coincidentally, we also both have an older brother, so we spent countless nights building forts and watching scary movies while our dads drink beer and our moms play card games.
L: We’ve always had an interest in fashion especially jewelry mainly because of our mothers. Even when we were much younger, our mothers would gift us with cute jewelry made for children and it’s just something we ended up truly enjoying having and wearing as time went by.
Y: I never had much jewelry growing up as my skin was very sensitive to certain metals. I wore the same gold earrings from birth until I was about 8 years old when my cousin was born. My aunt ‘borrowed’ my earrings for my cousin to ‘try on’. Unfortunately, I never got it back. Fortunately, I became interested in branching out to other jewelry. With sensitive skin, however, I was limited to jewelry made with precious metals only – which of course I only had access to when I was lucky enough to get it gifted.
As we grew up and had enough responsibility to save money and buy things for ourselves, we realized that it wasn’t easy buying an 18k pure gold carat necklace or a nice set of diamond earrings and a ring (with a student’s allowance and very little savings). Our parents of course wanted to teach us the value of money and spending them on the right occasion so we weren’t always given access to this kind of luxury without their help. Let’s all be real here, we know that girls whether they are in high school, college, working, homebodies, you name it, always have an event to go to lol. All of us need something that will make us look elegant and beautiful. Yes, we’ve felt the same and have the same problems all the time too! Hence why we decided to address the issue by making our own line of jewelry, Hiraya.
timelessness and elegance
Whenever there was a family gathering, our moms would always be in the event and come wearing simple clothes but with decent style and yet still managed to look very elegant and classy. They said that it’s the jewelry pieces that helped carry out that fashionable image and choosing the ones with simple yet classy designs gave out the most luxurious looks. They would make any outfit look outstanding when worn together.
“Less is more.“
Funny how life makes a huge turn… due to family obligations, Yuka’s family had to move out of the Philippines. Lisa and Yuka didn’t see each other for about 11 years but coincidentally, Yuka had decided to pursue her business degree in Tokyo and Lisa moved to Japan in 2017 for her first job.
Here we are now living in Tokyo Japan, where Hiraya Jewels all started. Whether it be your first piece of “luxury” or a gift for your loved ones, we look forward to helping you fulfill your needs.
xo,
Hiraya J.