Megumi Aoki
Co-founder & Chief Brand Officer of Ignitus. Designing spaces, brands, and experiences between Los Angeles and Tokyo.
I'm Megumi Aoki, Co-founder and Chief Brand Officer of Ignitus, a real estate investment and operating company at the intersection of residential and hospitality, based in Los Angeles.
My work starts from one question: how do people live, and how does design shape what they choose and feel?
I spent seven years answering it in Tokyo as founder of THRIVAL Inc., building two brands end to end — from concept and design through daily operations. Those years were about designing the contents of daily life. At Ignitus, I design the places where life happens.
Fluent in Japanese, English, and Korean, I work between Los Angeles and Tokyo.
Introduction
What I Do
Real Estate & Design
As Co-founder and Chief Brand Officer of Ignitus, I lead brand and creative direction across our portfolio — how every space looks, feels, and is experienced. Design, to me, is inseparable from value: it shapes not only how people experience a space, but its worth as an asset.
Selected Work
KAWA KITCHEN
Tokyo · 2022–2024
A wellness-focused destination café-restaurant, led from site selection through concept to daily operations — with a space designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Kengo Kuma. Featured on 5 national television programs in Japan.
S. — Plastic-Free Lifestyle Brand
Tokyo · 2019–2025
Founded and built end to end — brand concept, product and packaging design, and all creative direction. 40+ pop-ups with Japan's leading department stores, a collaboration with Cathay Pacific, and features in 20+ publications.
Speaking
Alongside my work, I speak at conferences and universities, and serve as a councilor for two foundations in Japan supporting education and human wellbeing. I care about how people live—and about helping others reach the environments and choices that let them thrive.
Selected engagements
2024 — Moderator, NEXUS JAPAN SUMMIT
2023 — Panelist, GLOBAL FESTA 2023 Organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan "Talking with Youth: ODA and Social Issues"
2022 — Speaker, The University of Tokyo Global Leader Development Program
2022 — Speaker, "The Future We Want to Leave"
2021 — Speaker, "Millennial Leaders and SDGs"
Content
I share life between two cities through House of Megumi, a podcast, and a Japanese journal on note—writing and conversations about how we live, the environments we choose, and the choices that shape us.