For Deborah Davidson, Hokkaido is not only home, it is a door to other worlds. As a child, she played with Ainu children and watched them care for the frolicking cubs of the "iomante" (bear ceremony). As a translator, she now focuses on bringing Ainu folk tales to an English-speaking audience.

A devoted fan of Ayako Miura, a famous novelist from Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Davidson also followed Miura's creative path around the prefecture to translate her historical novel "Kairei" into English under the title "Hidden Ranges."

As the cross-cultural adviser for the small coastal town of Setana in southern Hokkaido in the 1990s, she joined cultural circles and learned to paint etegami, hand-drawn postcards using traditional Japanese sumi ink and washi paper. Building on those artistic skills, she now concocts original illustrated recipes, inspired by Hokkaido and Japanese cuisine.