2021– date –
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Fun Facts About Hokkaido’s Trick-or-Treating and Chocolates
【Trick-or-treating in Hokkaido】 Did you know that the history of trick-or-treating at Halloween in North America was not so long? It started about in 1930, while Halloween itself has a long history of more than 2000 years. As you may k... -
What the Japanese Governement Did Wrong in the COVID
【What are things other than basics of life?】 One of the biggest reasons why I was back to my hometown is a summer music festival held in Hokkaido. Nevertheless, this summer is ending without the fest due to the COVID, the same as last ... -
Do You Know the Truth of Average?
【What is average?】 AI can create virtual humans that look realistic. It's sometimes difficult to tell the difference between real and virtual actors in movies, for example. As this is a well-known trick, to make the faces of virtual hu... -
What Makes Sapporo the Toughest Market in Japan?
Sapporo, the capital city of Hokkaido, is famous as a place for test marketing. Many businesses test pre-release products because its age structure of population is almost the same as that of the whole country. In addition, the city has no strong characteristics or specific tendency in culture; the people are considered to like new things. Maybe it's because Hokkaido doesn't have a long history, different from other areas in the main land of Japan. -
Reasons Matter: Why We Seek Understanding in Life
【A local amusement park is seeing its last days】 I often go to a hot spring place in a nearby town. On the way, there's a collapsing amusement park "Canadian World." I have a dim memory of seeing its TV commercials when I was a kid, bu... -
The New Coke Paradox: Why You Should Embrace the Slapdash Approach (Or, When Fast Failure Beats Slow Research)
New Coke: Was it the greatest failure or a massive success? As a 7th grader, I knew the flavor of tradition was more important than innovation. Since prediction is impossible, we embrace the 'slapdash' approach. When the alternative is spending five years to launch a guaranteed failure, fast failure is always better. -
The Thing We Learned from Alexander the Great
【Alexander the Great, my hero】 Japanese people really seem to like to pick up the top three of various categories, such as the world's three major night views. They are Hong Kong, Monaco, and Nagasaki, by the way. If it's about archite... -
Human Subtlety Will Never Devise an Invention More Beautiful, More Simple, or More Direct
【A genius can learn from any small matters】 When you can't catch fish, think it gave you time to think about life. This quote is believed in Japan to be made by Ernest Hemingway. As far as I searched, however, the author of the phrase ... -
The Anti-Sport Philosophy: Why Kendo Will Never Be in the Olympics
Why does Kendo resist Olympic inclusion? I explore the Anti-Sport Philosophy of Kendo, where natural expressions of victory are penalized and the bamboo sword is treated as the soul of the samurai. This ritualistic Way of Life is rooted in a deep Japanese reverence for tools. I conclude by revealing how the very same Kendo spirit—the humble partnership with one's instruments—is what drives the quality and meticulous care in our Hokkaido furniture factory. -
Greenwashing: Is It Really Eco-friendly?
【Why I like clever lies better than obvious lies】 Have you ever watched "The Sting" one of the classic movies from Hollywood? I believe it's a masterpiece of a con-game movie. If I were the gang boss tricked by Paul Newman and Robert R...