Chiaki Kouno / 河野 千秋
Director at TSURUKAME CREATIVE LIMITED (Hong Kong)
Marketing team member at Vektor, Inc.
Based in Hong Kong since 2008, working across both digital marketing and web production. With a strong commitment to the open-source community, focuses on connecting Asia and the wider world through web marketing, supporting cross-border initiatives such as multilingual website development and promotional projects.
Connecting web and marketing from Japan and Hong Kong
Drawing on hands-on experience in multilingual environments, I work from a cross-functional perspective.
Hello, I’m Chiaki Kouno, and I generally go by Chiaki.
My career in web-related work began with three years spent in web production environments in Japan. After working across roles including writer, developer, and director, I relocated to Hong Kong in 2008.
In Hong Kong, I spent approximately three years studying Mandarin (Putonghua) and Cantonese. Living in this multilingual city, I gained first-hand experience of an environment where linguistic and cultural differences are part of everyday life.
I later founded my own company in Hong Kong, TSURUKAME CREATIVE LIMITED. My work focuses primarily on multilingual website development and supporting promotional initiatives that connect Japan, Hong Kong, and wider international audiences.
Looking ahead, I aim to build on my experience in production and multilingual projects by becoming more deeply involved in projects from the perspectives of team management and marketing, contributing at a broader, strategic level.
Engagement with Open-Source WordPress
Where practical work meets community across borders and languages
WordPress has long been one of the core platforms in my work, supporting web production and multilingual website development over many years.
My involvement includes volunteering in activities such as organising official events, speaking at conferences, running study groups, and contributing translations for plugins and documentation. While these contributions are modest, I have remained consistently engaged with the community, with a focus on fostering connections that go beyond national and linguistic boundaries.
I value the practice of giving back to the community by sharing insights gained through day-to-day professional work, and I aim to maintain a healthy, reciprocal relationship between practical work and open-source initiatives.
Since 2021, I have also been working as part of the marketing team at Vektor, Inc., one of Japan’s leading WordPress theme development companies. Some of my contributions to the WordPress community are carried out with the support of Vektor, Inc.
Lifelong Learning and Engagement with Education
From self-directed study to bridging professional practice and learning environments
In the early days of the web, learning was largely self-directed, with progress made through trial and error. Within this environment, I began taking on freelance work at a relatively early stage, and by my mid-twenties had become involved in professional practice as a director.
Alongside my practical work, I also engaged with educational settings, including serving as an instructor in self-promotion at an Illustrator school.
After relocating to Hong Kong, I continued to pursue language-based learning through Mandarin studies in Beijing, Cantonese studies in Hong Kong, English studies in Manila, and Thai language studies in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
In addition, while based in Hong Kong, I enrolled as a working adult in a bachelor’s programme offered by the Hong Kong University School of Professional and Continuing Education, in partnership with the University of Hull in the UK, where I studied marketing and management in a structured and systematic way.
Even after entering professional life, I continue to value the enjoyment of learning and remain closely connected to educational and learning environments. Today, alongside developing my career, I regularly take part as a speaker at events, sharing knowledge and experience gained through practical work.
