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… Continue reading Luxury found in Tokyo
Category: Industrial Design
Layman’s perspective of industrial design
Sunday morning rush hour in Tokyo suburbs
Sunday morning between 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. is children and youth's rush hour in suburbs of greater Tokyo area. It is the day for sports matches for kids who play sports. Baseball, soccer, basketball, tennis, martial arts, volleyball and others, Japanese in general loves to train and play sports formally, and that creates this… Continue reading Sunday morning rush hour in Tokyo suburbs
User segmentation, profiling is dangerous
I've learned about Feargal Quinn's Crowning the Customer through reading Tom Peters blog a few years back.  It's a classic. I read it over and over, and each time, I am inspired on different pages. What I was inspired this time was what Mr. Quinn wrote about "seeing customer as people". He encouraged his workers… Continue reading User segmentation, profiling is dangerous
Starting up design essay project
14 years ago, I attended Yoshiko Sakurai’s seminar for small business audience. She said, when you read a book, have a pen or pencil in your hand, and underline the parts that means something to you. If you do that for 10 years, you will be standing here instead of me, giving seminar about the… Continue reading Starting up design essay project
Humans will be mostly manufactured
Maybe humanss will be manufactured, not born by year 2209. Look around now. We seem to have already made the choice. We are waiting for the technology to catch up. Kids in advanced country planted in front of PC or gaming device or some sort of machine, because there aren't room for them to play… Continue reading Humans will be mostly manufactured
Why meet face to face?
http://www.reuters.com/resources/flash/include_video.swf?edition=US&videoId=97787 This year, more people than ever attend the World Economic Forum at Davos. As this video asks: Why attend? We are now capable of sharing so much information virtually. It will probably take several generations, if ever, for the humans to become natural at virtual meetings. In the recent seminar I organized about building… Continue reading Why meet face to face?
Toyota dealership visit in suburban Tokyo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/projectkobo/sets/72157612706079650/ Buying an automobile has never been an option to me since I moved from the US to Tokyo. Why would I want a car? Trains and buses are so cheap, they are everywhere, runs on time, clean, safe. Taxis aren't so expensive. If I needed to drive somewhere for some reason, I would rent… Continue reading Toyota dealership visit in suburban Tokyo
Sustainability effort: moving small office
I did it again..... I let a few months slip by without writing anything. August, September were really busy, then came mid October and nothing. So this is what it's like to be, affected by the economic situation of the time. Being a small operation, it was an easy decision to close my studio, especially… Continue reading Sustainability effort: moving small office
Kohoku New Town Green Matrix
Urban development in Japan is finally making the kind of progress that residents can feel. The cluster in economic development as discussed by Michael Porter exists in Japan as can be read in Strategy for Cluster Initiatives in Japan by Yoko Ishikura, et al
FUJIKO SUDA 