February 2012
8 posts
4 tags
Curious About...Our Inner Dragons.
An experiment…
The blog seems to have caught on in China, and I’ve been commissioned to write a special version for China Business News, addressing some of the themes that I see here. So here is the latest story, presented in both its original Mandarin and English, that is running right now. Huge thanks to my colleague Elyssa He for translating.
So finally, it’s the famed...
3 tags
Curious About...Designing Absence.
I’m interested in what I am calling ‘designed absence’ - the removal of excess and a suggestion of the presence of something. Of course in Japan they don’t only have a word for this, but an entire philosophy. Wikipedia describes Ma thus: “Ma (間) is a Japanese word which can be roughly translated as “gap”, “space”, “pause” or...
4 tags
Curious About...Godzillatecture
I posted this picture of the Tokyo skyline on Instagram a few days ago, complete with the Tokyo Tower in the forefront and the hodgepodge of buildings around it. In response and my colleague Axel wrote: “The only thing missing is Godzilla.” Walking around Tokyo, you can’t help but be struck by its post-war modernist architecture, the funky concrete, tiled and curvy shapes...
4 tags
Curious About...Japanese Hygge.
The Danes don’t own the market on warm coziness, but they do have a great word for it - hygge. However, winter in Japan comes with its own glow - usually from the beautiful warm lights that Japanese inns, restaurants and homes fill themselves with. It may not have the same twinkling candlelit quality that you find in Scandinavia, but Japanese hygge has its own charm. Time to...
Curious About...Politeness.
Every time I come to Japan I notice a change in my own behavior. To state up front, I am English and was brought up by my Scottish mother to have very good manners, but over the years, I have become a bit sloppy, perhaps occasionally dashing out of the elevator before those before me or not holding the door for someone, but when I am here, I immediately tidy up after myself, fold my clothes,...