Archive for 2010
- New Year in Japan
New Year’s day is a big holiday in Japan, and traditionally, there are decorations that are associated with the New Year like pine branch, cut bamboos, woven dried rice stalks. I vaguely thought of the decrease in these decorations at homes and cities for the last few years, but this year, I became aware of […]
...- 29 Dec, 2010 | No comments yet
- The Residence Inn, Starbucks, McDonald’s
This was the longest stay for me and my family at a hotel. For 15 nights, 16 days, we stayed at the Residence Inn in Campbell, California. In the past, for this length of stay away from home, I would seek out short term rental of a furnished apartment, but taking past lessons about business/vacation […]
...- 24 Dec, 2010 | No comments yet
- Sandwich generation
Gretchen Addi and I both have older children and aging parents to take care. She said we are of sandwich generation. Our parents did not have to think much of how to die. Living long was good thing. Living long, and enjoying the fruits of life. Like most of things in our lives, things do […]
...- 18 Dec, 2010 | No comments yet
- Researching the aging market in Japan
Japan has had more elderly people aged over 65 than younger people aged 15 and younger since 1997. Above graph shows other countries are following the same trend as in Japan. What does this mean to me? As a 50-year old, it is about ME. And as a researcher, I am tremendously interested in what […]
...- 08 Dec, 2010 | No comments yet
- Things reveal themselves if we become interested
For about 7 years, I had firsthand experience in taking part in crunching numbers at a business unit. Before doing that, all the education I had was taking a course in accounting in college and all the actual experience I had in accounting and finance was managing my own young, small family finance. It was […]
...- 07 Dec, 2010 | No comments yet
- Reading on paper vs. online
It’s been 5 days since I returned from the US, but I still have a jet lag. I woke up and got out of bed at 3:50 am. Before starting to work, I read online for nearly an hour about psychokinesis, para-psychology, Dean Radin, Amazon customer reviews on Dean Radin’s books, University of Pennsylvania. At […]
...- 06 Dec, 2010 | No comments yet
- Obvious isn’t so obvious
When designer, researcher requests to see where the actions are, I most often take them to places where they didn’t realize of the connection with the product or service they are designing or researching. For instance, in Tokyo, I just can’t imagine purchasing iPad to use in my worklife. At home, there isn’t any place […]
...- 02 Dec, 2010 | No comments yet
- Picture does not come with history
Not a special scene to a lot of people. It’s a residential complex in Yokohama Japan. It becomes significant if you live there, or if you have some vested interest in some parts of this scene. You might live here. You might have built the building. I thought of how the light colors have changed […]
...- 30 Nov, 2010 | No comments yet
- Good way to see the Japanese culture, design and values
One good way to see the Japanese culture, design and values would be to visit TOTO showroom in Tokyo. It’s a totally Japanese language, Japanese place, but that makes it even more interesting to observe. TOTO is a kitchen, bathroom ceramic goods manufacturer, and they are doing quite well. In this tough economic time, the […]
...- 28 Nov, 2010 | No comments yet
- Luxury found in Tokyo
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, luxury means a condition of abundance or great ease and comfort : sumptuous environment. It also means something adding to pleasure or comfort but not absolutely necessary, or an indulgence in something that provides pleasure, satisfaction, or ease. With such definition, living in Tokyo is full of luxury with TOTO toilet with […]
...- 26 Nov, 2010 | No comments yet
