Japan's 'weaver of new ideas' melds business with creativity

TOKYO -- Reiko Sudo, an internationally acclaimed textile designer, entrepreneur, college professor and champion of both preservation and innovation in the Japanese textile industry, enthusiastically welcomes admirers while standing beneath a swarm of more than 300 koinobori (carp streamers) -- colorful fabric windsocks resembling Japanese koi (carp). The streamers are suspended as if swimming from the ceiling of the main gallery of Tokyo's National Art Center.