Launch party for PARIS mag by BONJOUR FRANCE

Françoise  MORÉCHAND

- A Bridge Between Japan and France -

Françoise  MORÉCHAND is a French lifestyle advisor and essayist, notably known for having served as beauty director at Chanel. She is currently an international advisor to the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. She is married to French music and film critic Tatsuji Nagataki.

Originally destined to become an interpreter in Chinese or Russian, she chose instead to devote herself to Japanese, convinced of Japan’s future potential. She studied at the École des langues orientales de Paris as well as at the Sorbonne, then settled in Japan in 1958 with her first husband. There, she taught French for Japan Airlines, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Ochanomizu University.

She gained widespread recognition as the instructor on the NHK television program “French Conversation,” quickly becoming one of the best-known French women in Japan through her many appearances on television, radio, and in the press. After returning to France in 1964, she worked for Christian Dior and Revlon before returning to Japan in 1974 as beauty director of Chanel. She later continued her media activities, introducing French fashion, culture, and history to the Japanese public.

A lifestyle producer in Japan, she has also contributed to the creation of kimonos, ceramics, and fashion collections. A true bridge between French and Japanese cultures, she is the author of numerous books and has served as a visiting professor at Kyoritsu Women's University. In France, her book La Gaijin became a bestseller.

Elected in 2000 as the Northern Asia representative to the Conseil supérieur des Français de l’étranger, she is also honorary president of the Union des Français de l’étranger du Japon. She was awarded the Légion d’honneur in 2004, the Ordre national du Mérite at the rank of Commander in 2008, the honorary prize of La Renaissance Française in 2019, and the Order of the Rising Sun (Gold Rays with Rosette) in 2020. She currently serves as a Foreign Trade Advisor of France (CCE) and as tourism ambassador for Ishikawa Prefecture.