Choosing Science

As I studied for the Spring Semester that will begin on January 13th, 2014, I read Ivana Nikolic's "House for the Homeless: A place to Hang Your Hat" on the textbook, Field Working: Reading and Writing Research. I was fascinated with Ivana's story seen from insiders and outsider's perspectives. I related to her attitude that… Continue reading Choosing Science

Happiness of Being a Part of Whole

I realize I have been writing philosophical things a lot.I will resist my inner voice that says "Don't embarrass yourself by writing self righteous stuff," and continue writing. Reality will visibly appear the same to the every human eyes.If I am looking at a cat from exact same angle, our eyes will perceive it in… Continue reading Happiness of Being a Part of Whole

“The opposite of sadness is not happiness”

The lesson 2 of Positive Psychology class at the Penn State University World Campus started with these words: Did you know that the opposite of sadness is not happiness? The opposite of sadness is actually...the absence of sadness.What this means is that if you could get rid of everything that is making you sad, you… Continue reading “The opposite of sadness is not happiness”

Willful Blindness

http://embed.ted.com/talks/lang/ja/margaret_heffernan_the_dangers_of_willful_blindness.html As I listened to Margaret Heffernan's talk, I realized (1) it's easier for me to be serious than light, (2) I often choose to be willfully blind, (3) seafood sustainability issue that I am working on as a member of Packard Foundation project team is exactly this.  The team members are ordinary people.We just… Continue reading Willful Blindness

Making friend with yourself

Know thyself. It took me many, many years to know myself.I am 53, and I have just begun to know myself. Until I became a mother raising a child at age 27 everything I experienced was evaluated based on how I felt, whether it felt good for me, whether it was right for me. When… Continue reading Making friend with yourself

Learning a new language

One thing I can say for certain about being bilingual is how it enriched my life. Being able to communicate fluently in both English and Japanese gives me access into Japanese and English speaking people's cultures, knowledge and opportunities. Because I did not consciously become bi-lingual, just a chance gift I received in my life,… Continue reading Learning a new language

Free address (sometimes referred to as hot desking or non-territorial) office within althernative workplace strategy (AWS)

Since 1990’s, major companies in the United States have been implementing alternative workplace strategies (AWS), which is about how and where employees work. With advancement of information communication technologies (ICT), as long as data and information was accessible online and internal and external communication could be done in timely manner either virtually or physically anywhere,… Continue reading Free address (sometimes referred to as hot desking or non-territorial) office within althernative workplace strategy (AWS)

Outliers: The Story of Success

I have a habit of re-reading the books I find I like and worthwhile over and over again. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is one of those books. Gladwell talks about how sheer time one spends doing the thing she enjoys are directly tied with achievements and success tied to that activity. The example he used… Continue reading Outliers: The Story of Success

Japanese SNS Activities by Market Sector

About 3 years ago, I found myself doing some SNS based PR work for my friends, and one project lead to another. It has been exciting and fun to be on this new ground, and like everything else before in my life, work came in not as result of formal education, but learning by reading… Continue reading Japanese SNS Activities by Market Sector

Update on affect of the great earthquake

Undercurrent would be something that Japanese over generation has been familiar with, which is surviving the natural disaster and rebuilding after great crisis. We are warned that another big earthquake is due, this time with epicenter of the quake even closer to Tokyo, but this time on the west side of it. We are still… Continue reading Update on affect of the great earthquake

Research conducted in Tokyo now

Product/service development, design research related people like ethnographers, interview moderators, recruiters, coordinators, interpreters, etc. have been keeping busy in Tokyo since latter part of last year, as overseas companies are again very interested in researching Japanese market. After the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake in March 11, 2011, it has of course been an interesting study… Continue reading Research conducted in Tokyo now

History is no longer created by limited few writers

Joe Paterno, former football head coach at Penn State, passed away last Sunday. Because of his position, power and influence he had over the past decade, so many people has been reacting in various ways over what has been called the biggest US college scandal and the way Penn State fired Paterno unceremoniously to handle… Continue reading History is no longer created by limited few writers

Recent Ethnography Research, Particularly of Recruitment Challanges in Japan

Over the past three years, I have become more and more concerned with the difficulty in creating highly exciting learning session for foreign inspiration/innovation seeking customers of both design companies and end user companies. It has a lot to do with recruiting process for people to research. I see following problems in recruiting, some of… Continue reading Recent Ethnography Research, Particularly of Recruitment Challanges in Japan