Skull HandbagBy Simon Shiida -- Kumiko Onuma’s road to becoming a top designer -- Unconventional work has always been a trademark of Onuma’s, one of them being a giant birdcage in the middle of a building which also functions as a convenience store. Her other piece of art, a 1 ton bronze suspended sculpture in the Fukuoka Diamond Building won the Fukuoka prefecture ‘Urban Beautification Award’ in 1995. Although her company was a relatively small operation (it only had five permanent staff), she had a network of 20 artists which she could pick and choose from depending on the project. This enabled her to work with a whole host of artists, from woodwork craftsmen in Calcutta to world-famous Japanese metalwork sculptor Empo Okajima.