japan– tag –

【Using a chainsaw to cut butter】 The above words are a wise saying by Barry Commoner, an American biologist, to express the inefficiency of nuclear power generation. By the way, the topic of this article is not about energy policies; N...

HJapan’s national shame: the average lifespan of our modern houses is only 30 years. We explore the paradox with Hōryū-ji—the world’s oldest wooden building—whose secret lies in flexible joints and continuous, generational care. Ultimate strength comes not from rigidity, but from the ability to flex and absorb shock. The lifetime of our furniture often exceeds that of the house it sits in.

The huge bubble burst in 1991, and the Japanese economy completely collapsed. The era after the bubble burst was once called "lost two decades" but now becomes "three decades". The long and severe domestic competitions force most of us to withdraw from the market. Remaining survivors are companies of real value where people continue to work diligently even at lower wages. Japanese products were thought to be "good but expensive" in the past but nowadays have changed to "good and cheap". There's no reason not to buy Japan (our products) now!

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel survived the Great Kanto Earthquake on its opening day in $1923$ due to his innovative floating structure—a profound, immediate validation of his genius. Seeing the meticulous carvings, I recall the dictum: "God is in the details." This detail-orientation is a Japanese trait (our furniture is "full of God"), but it’s a paradox: some Japanese products, like certain cars, excel in detail yet "can't see the wood for the trees," resulting in a poor overall design. This is the Japanese Paradox: excelling at the micro-level while sometimes faltering at the macro-level. We strive to master both the detail and the clean, coherent form.

Summer time in Higashikawa Town. Dark-roasted coffee and Japanese soft-cream from Yoshinori (ヨシノリコーヒー) coffee shop. No, this is not a barn, this is actually the coffee shop. Not a big fan of dark-roasted coffee, but this ...

【Google search results vary depending on the person】 Did you know that your Google search results were different from mine even if we use the same search words? You may still believe there are some big general trends in the world, and ...