1
Our Beginnings
In 2005 and 2007, storeowner and manager, Lily Lai who majored in Japanese at U of A, studied abroad in Osaka and Hokkaido, Japan.
She was immensely amazed at how beautiful and useful Japanese merchandises were and enjoyed learning Japanese culture.2
KI-FU-NE is Born
Since then, she had a dream to open up the retail store and introduce Japanese products.
She met the assistant manager and buyer, Tomomi Komai Calder, a Japanese friend and colleague, and in her found a kindred spirit who also shared the same dream.3
Origin of a Name
Kifune ( meaning royal ship; pronouncing Key-foo-neh) is the name of a district in a forested valley in the northern mountains of Kyoto-city, Japan. According to legend, a goddess traveled in a golden ship (hence the name Kifune) from Osaka all the way up the river into the mountains north of Kyoto, and Kifune Shrine was built at the site where her boat journey had come to an end.
