The Taste Report™: Misako Envela

On following dreams, expressing yourself despite the algorithm, and the vibes of sustainability, via the Tokyo-based creator and dancer.

Welcome to The Taste Report™, an interview series exploring and explaining taste from people who have supremely good taste. Access the full interview by upgrading to a paid subscription.

I met Misako Envela in the early 2020s. We were both working for an agency, doing social media things for big brands, writing about creator life and creating content to help creators on their journey. It was a very good day job and, while Misako and I overlapped in our work, she was the type of person that I just wanted to get to know more, to get to hang out with in a not-work capacity, which is a feeling that happens, sure, but rarely in the way where it’s game-recognize-game, where you know someone is perhaps occupying another stratosphere of life that work doesn’t properly represent.

And I was right: after all these years, as a friend and someone whose work I love, Misako has been someone who has a quiet elegance to her. She has a velveteen voice and carries herself with a remarkable poise, the sort of grace befitting of a screen star from another time. Then again: she’s a dancer. Such lightness is obvious, such style comes with a trained professional whose body is an instrument. Like many a modern person, she wears many hats, which is less because she — like you or I — wants to but because we’re required to keep multiple plates spinning if we hope to become independent, to establish ourselves in the ways that we want the world to see us.

But technically, in her own words, she’s a creator and dancer based in Tokyo, Japan. She makes YouTube videos and TikToks, she has a podcast and a pilot — but none of it is exactly what you’d think from a creator. Her work is less about the constant day-in-the-life enabled parasociality but about offering people a compass to get through life in the ways that have helped her get through life. I’d describe her videos as proof of living and learning, her creations the result of going through it and living to tell. It’s refreshing in a way that one might say that the candidness of TikTok is refreshing: the videos are intimate and quite, less about algorithmic gestures and more about what’s on her mind.

This approach, amongst all the other things that make Misako who she is, is an exercise in taste: resisting the algorithm, resisting the trends, figuring out things on your own, and sharing bits and pieces of yourself (when it feels right). Thus, the next entry in The Taste Report™. During a morning chat, Central Europe Standard Time, that was also an early evening, Japan Standard Time, we connected for almost an hour and a half to catch up and talk taste. There were tears, there were laughs, there were shared videos and reflecting on how we got where we are, all by maintaining a vision for ourselves and the world we want to be in. Read on to connect the dots between literal cooking and having taste, how sustainability fits into a vibe, and the importance of finding a place that matches your energy.

KRF: Let’s start from the beginning. We first met from working together and I was always struck by your poise, that you have a way of carrying yourself that is a really unmatched vibe that extends to personal style and the home you keep — and that’s an expression of taste to me, which is why I wanted to interview you. That’s also not easy to translate, especially in your work as a creator where it does translate. How do you define taste?

ME: I really just define taste as a collection of things that you are naturally drawn to. I think a lot of people have confused taste with other people's tastes when taste is very, very personal. It's not like a list of the top ten cafes you should check out in Tokyo: it's the spot that you've stumbled upon, and you like it because of the way it makes you feel or the type of music that's playing. It’s like the way you cook your food because that's the way your mom cooked it when you grew up. It’s you and your flavors. I think that's the taste: the things that you naturally love when you're not taking in other people's opinions or recommendations or considerations.

KRF: You touched on something so obvious and literal that I’ve never thought about: the word taste. We know what it means as a cultivated point of view but what that word is really getting at is maybe a little more literal, like food in your mouth: the point of what you said is that, like making something to eat, your style is influenced by how your mom or your family or your friend or whoever cooked. You’re conjuring places and feelings — and people forget about that in the pursuit of taste. To follow a recipe is to follow a recipe but a dish really shines when you customize it to your liking, turning a recipe into something that lives in your head instead of something written. I hadn't thought about that until you mentioned it. That’s a really good way of thinking about it.

ME: It was inspired by a Tiktok I saw that I want to share with you. Let me share my screen with you because I think you'll love this.

Misako cues up the video and we watch this TikTok together. The TikTok includes these thoughts —

If you want to get better at making creative decisions, put that food delivery app down. I'm so serious. If you want to be consistent, if you want to manage your resources, if you want to take risks, if you want to develop your taste, that is not something that convenience is able to offer you. That requires you to go to the source and to find something that you vibe with in that grocery store, in that food market, to bring it back, to use it and to make it work with whatever you have in your pantry or your kitchen or your current capabilities. That is working with limitations, which is where the very best creative outlets come from. We often talk about taste as this intangible cultural thing and, while that's true, it is also literally about your sense of taste. What are you willing to train? What are you willing to pair together that is unexpected, but ends up making sense anyways? How are you going to manage your resources and work with what you already have in order to make something that enriches you? These are things that apply to both cooking and also the way that you make decisions. Do you trust your instinct when it comes to cooking, or do you need everything to be pre-measured out for you?

ME: It’s kind of long. I can send you the full bit.

KRF: Please! I need to watch the rest because…that’s exactly it. Taste is embedded, a culturally shaped element that this is the perfect metaphor for. A little thing like ordering food versus making your own says it all! It’s the sort of thing when people talk about Amazon Prime: that’s a taste tell. I got rid of my account years and years ago because I knew it was awful for me and the world and for everyone involved. Having to, you know, go to a store and find things exposes me to the world — and to culture. Our being robbed of life is being sold to us as making life more convenient and efficient. But aren’t the inconveniences the things that make you interesting?

ME: That’s life. It’s all part of the process. People don't know who they are. They buy online what was picked by another person because it's like, “This is the highest rated thing.” People are not making their own choices anymore!

KRF: They’re not — and then they think consumption is a form of action which…it's not! Not to be that friend who’s too woke but: the powers that be want you to continue doing nothing, even if it’s only good for them. How have you cultivated your own version of this?

ME: I explore what I'm naturally drawn to. I came to this realization, recently, to try out things that people I love and respect like and also being very conscious of what and when I consume content. I tend to be drawn to other, more free-spirited, anti-consumer creators. I'm not even super “anti” but I'm never going to be the person that's pushing you to buy anything. And if it's a sponsored post? It's because it's probably not a physical product and it's something that I really believe in. I'm drawn to people like that because I know that I'm never going to leave feeling like I need to change anything about myself, or like I need to consume something. I'm just very mindful about what I take in and when I take it in because I don't want to be influenced by other people. I think that there's a time and place for research and seeking inspiration, but, when it comes time to make something, I stop scrolling and consuming stuff because I don't want to fall into the comparison trap. It can happen accidentally too, like you allow your process to be influenced by what you saw someone else do. I always want to stay true to my vision!I try to be thoughtful about what I consume and when I consume it — and I'm totally fine stepping away if I feel like I'm I'm starting to second guess what I like or how I share and speak my perspective.

KRF: That’s a good instinct to have. The not-consuming-things as far as inspiration is funny because, as I start my new book, it’s been a struggle — and I have this giant pile of like books that are for inspiration, that I’ll read before I write. But it’s a very different process from what you're talking about: I will read these things specifically for vibes to imitate — but I cannot literally copy out of a book. You could but that’s clearly “wrong”: it's one thing to look at inspiration and know its inspiration, then putting it aside to do your own thing, versus literally copying word-for-word. One requires synthesis and sitting with yourself and thinking critically and doing more research and living and practicing while the other doesn’t. I think that ties back to fashion and home style because those are things that can be copied but feel soulless when that happens. Tell me about your inspirations and approach to everything from fashion to decor to creating to dance since they all are of-a-kind for you. How do you define it?

Left, Misako’s wears by Lou Badger. Right, Misako at a fitting with Lou.

ME: At the center of my personal style and whatever I do has always been sustainability — and not in a trendy, thrifty way. The tagline on my Instagram used to be “doing my best with what I have” because I truly do live by that. How can I make the most out of what's already available? Whether that's like, moving into spaces that are already furnished so that I don't consume things. Or, allowing someone like my friend Lou Badger — who has this incredible upcycled clothing line — dress me for an art week: I love the idea of working in collaboration with other people to curate my own personal style. It feels way more special — and everything we need already exists. You don't need another outfit, even if it's secondhand. Not to say that we, you know, shouldn't treat ourselves to things but I think true creativity is making the most out of what's already available. There’s this idea of rebranding or that you constantly need to be reinventing yourself and starting over and buying this and doing all that and not actually define your personal style: you don't need to. You are your personal style. You don't need to keep consuming things to define that.

KRF: That’s really important and, being a little bit older, evolution is really important. I’ve only worn shorts since like 2010 for personal, political, whatever reasons but, in the past few years, there's been an evolution in part because it’s much colder in Barcelona which means I do have to wear pants sometimes. I also get a lot of stares here which can feel very lethal. Now I'm fine with it but it really wore on me. I had to adjust and make pants my own, which requires flexibility and continuing to hold onto your center, to adjust to physically being in a different place and my body being in a different place and my ways of expressing myself being in a different place. How can I achieve this while taking my time, without rushing out and buying whatever “right now”? I took the time to research and take a “If I find it, I find it.” approach to only things I found in person versus clicking for something online. This took a while to cultivate as a mentality because, as my dad always said when I was a kid, money burned a hole in my pocket, like I would make money — and then I would spend it all immediately. I think about that all the time when it comes to dopamine-hit culture and that you have to get shit right now, eat the whole thing, and be done with it versus taking your time. Enjoy the process! It's really difficult. There’s a power to saving, there’s a power to serendipity. I will wear clothes I literally find on the street — and they’re some of my favorite things. Nothing should happen overnight! And I think that’s a good segue to talking about dance and how taste factors into such an ephemeral form, something that’s so in-the-moment. There’s an immediacy that I love so, I'm curious, how do you express your point of view through dance and movement? Do you think the expression is different? Or is the approach quite similar?

ME: I feel like the tie between personal style and dance is the way you move when you're not performing. In those moments, where you're alone in your room or alone in the studio and you're letting that part of yourself that was drawn to dance in the first place guide your movement — versus like what a genre says, or how a genre says your body should be placed, or like a random instructor.

KRF: That reminds me of what a therapist told me once, to think back to when I was a teenager. Why did I want to write or be an actor? Then think of yourself now — and think about what that teenage version of yourself would think. That kind of blew my mind.

ME: That’s kind of similar to the “inner child” message. Let them have their moment!

KRF: I try to remember that when I’m working and doing things I don’t want to do because, if it’s at all related to writing, I am living the dream that younger me had. There are jobs I’ve done “for the money” which we all have to do — but I try to find those glimpses of that dream. Otherwise, if you sacrifice too much, you’ll pave your way to the 1950s, when people hated their lives because they were working shitty, meaningless jobs. Being able to do the thing that I always wanted to do, for money or for myself, puts wind in the sail.

ME: Constantly asking yourself that question — Do I still like doing this? — is important. I've been thinking about just being honest with ourselves about what it is we really want, kind of the reasons I listed in the beginning, of people allowing their lives to be dictated by what other people are choosing for them, thinking for them, looking at the world for them. And I'm like…we should all be questioning why we do the things we do and if we even really like the things we're currently doing.

KRF: That’s the trap of now, especially within algorithmic systems and overly commercialized times where you can’t live without money and have to buy things to survive. That’s why I love your videos and creations because they’re so not “that.” There’s an elegance and a refined point of view. I'm curious how you approach having to dialogue or interface or generally participate in, um, “algorithmic systems” and social media whims. To me, there are few things more tasteless than an algorithm so I’m curious how you navigate expressing yourself and maintaining your point of view despite the digital settings.

ME: I think the reason I haven't experienced, like, traditional success as a creator is because I really refuse to play the game. Since the day I started posting in 2016, I have always showed up honestly — and I really do create based on what's on my heart or what I feel drawn to share, what I feel would be helpful for others to hear. The only way that I have “played the game” is my frequency. Maybe the algorithm wants me to post more — but I've never created something because I thought it would “perform” which is why things don’t necessarily always perform well. I just have been committed. I don't know how to not show up as myself anywhere — but especially online. I don't know how to not-be-me and it feels like a blessing.

KRF: How do you resist the algorithm though, which often “shapes” how one is themself online? Outside of Mina Le, I can’t think of a creator who really “made it” on their own terms, who are consistently themselves without being seduced by the system.

ME: I believe that, if I'm really meant —

Misako takes a moment, resuming through tears.

ME: If I'm really meant to do this work, I don't have to change myself. Maybe it's going to take me ten or twenty years: I'm meant to do this for as long as I want. I don't want to feel like I'm performing, and I think it's making me emotional because it's hard to not feel like you're getting left behind. But I really do believe in what I'm doing. I just have to keep believing that, even if I'm just touching 10 people or one person, that it still matters. I just try to stay grounded in that. Truly I don't know how to do it any other way.

KRF: Thank you for sharing that. It really resonates and reminds of the TikTok you made about not doing things for money or attention but because they bring you joy. It’s so easy to forget that in these times! I try to always impress my young, aspiring writers and creatives in my audience because, if it was just for money or attention, it wouldn’t be me. I talk about my books and my fiction all the time, none of which have been published — but I keep writing. I don’t do that because I want to make millions, although I would like to be compensated for my work. I’m trying to enjoy the process instead of fucking selling myself as a JK Rowling or whoever. To me, it’s less about selling out or “the algorithm” or business but more about having integrity. I’m not going to compromise myself for the system: that’s too easy. To your point, if 2 or 20 or 20,000 people read anything I write, it matters that anyone read. If I get the chance to talk to someone because of some silly story I wrote? It was worth it. That’s how I hope to change the world, with these little things that I write, to make meaning and to help others have more meaningful lives. I think you do that too and I think you’re succeeding. It all ladders into having a point of view, having taste, and letting yourself actually cook versus just following the recipe.

ME: I feel that. If we just show up as we are, that is enough — and the people that we look up to are doing that too. I can be so hard on myself that it’s “not working.” But I’m not in it for that. That’s why it makes me emotional.

KRF: It’s the “marathon, not a spring” thing. It's the whole “money burning a hole in your pocket” thing. I really do believe in divine timing because, if I can’t enjoy the process at it’s not-high point, then…what's the point? Then I’m wasting my own time. You have to enjoy it! At the start, in the middle — wherever you are, you have to enjoy it. Blah blah blah it makes you stronger blah blah blah: anyway. So, as two Americans who live in not-America, I was wondering about your thoughts on place since I’ve known you in LA, Mexico City, and now Tokyo. How do you set parameters for where you are? How do you navigate taste in relationship to a place? Meaning: you can live a rich life of well expressed taste anywhere — but there are only opportunities for specific things in specific places. What's your take on that? What's your thoughts?