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Japan's MO seems to be extreme attention to detail on labor intensive high end luxury products. This translated into good transfer learning towards industrialization after WW2 but now has stagnated its potential by focusing on optimizing local maxima. It's aims fail to see the forest for the trees.
I’m curious if handcrafting artisans like this exist in North America/Europe at anywhere near the same scale (and we only see stories from Japan as we view it as something their culture does) or whether this is a uniquely Japanese thing to do. Perhaps we just value it less here in North America. All stories of extremely small batch but precisely crafted products seem to come out of Japan.
> All stories of extremely small batch but precisely crafted products seem to come out of Japan. idk. Most of my YouTube recommendations are exactly that but from all around the world lol. I can’t even say most are from Japan. I would be lying if I did. As a very simple example, I just watched a video about some candy company in Massachusetts that has been hand-making hard candy the same way for more than a hundred y…
I’m curious if handcrafting artisans like this exist in North America/Europe at anywhere near the same scale (and we only see stories from Japan as we view it as something their culture does) or whether this is a uniquely Japanese thing to do. Perhaps we just value it less here in North America. All stories of extremely small batch but precisely crafted products seem to come out of Japan.
Japanese culture seems to emphasize the experience of "doing" a lot more than the west. This attitude surely stems from Zen Buddhist ideas. For example, in the west, there is a commonly shared fantasy that automating away work will lead to happiness, having the robots doing it all is Nirvana; However, e all know deep down inside we'd still need something to do, we'd have to create some purpose or some object for ours…
I’m curious if handcrafting artisans like this exist in North America/Europe at anywhere near the same scale (and we only see stories from Japan as we view it as something their culture does) or whether this is a uniquely Japanese thing to do. Perhaps we just value it less here in North America. All stories of extremely small batch but precisely crafted products seem to come out of Japan.
Some evidence:
1) Japan has a higher percentage of iPhone users (65.88%) compared to USA (56.74%), while being poorer than USA on most metrics (GDP, median income, PPP-adjusted income etc.)
2) I don't have quantitative data, but just from experience Japan has so many more high-fashion stores, expensive pastry bakeries, expensive candy makers etc, when compared to USA. And if the stores are there, the customers must exist too.
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You seem to be describing a way to lie to yourself about the taste.
I mean, sorta? This would be like claiming that folks that enjoy a long bike ride are finding a way to lie about difficult physical tasks. (Or marathon runners, or any other difficult thing.) That is, I'm pointing out that you can use unique tastes to imprint experiences. And if you do that, it is not surprising that you can grow to like the taste, as it is no longer an isolated thing, but a physical reminder of othe…
No one wants to have to put effort into convincing themselves they're enjoying good wine with their experience.
I’m curious if handcrafting artisans like this exist in North America/Europe at anywhere near the same scale (and we only see stories from Japan as we view it as something their culture does) or whether this is a uniquely Japanese thing to do. Perhaps we just value it less here in North America. All stories of extremely small batch but precisely crafted products seem to come out of Japan.
My hypothesis is that Japanese people just appreciate high-quality products more. In the sense that even poor people, which of course exist in Japan, are willing to save up money and occasionally splurge on upscale items, vs poor people in USA who prefer to "average out" their spending and just buy the best that they can afford daily. Some evidence: 1) Japan has a higher percentage of iPhone users (65.88%) compared t…
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i'm pretty sure that not once ever have i heard a kid say their favorite color is beige. from kid's, i'd expect everything to be bright colors.
Given the comment I was replying to, I thought it would be obvious that my comment was in the context of food. At least IME, some kids will only eat beige food (fries/chips, battered/breaded meat/fish etc).
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I hate to push the idea of experience, but you can try that next time. That is, don't try and take in the taste individually. Look around and experience everything with you and try to imprint some of that into tasting it. Close your eyes and set the idea that it was all a part of it. Then, later, if you can get back to this specific taste, it can help remind you in very physical ways of being there and having that ex…
You seem to be describing a way to lie to yourself about the taste.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Perhaps we just value it less here in North America. The reason we have less stuff like this in the USA is due to geography. We are a mostly flat country, rather than being mountainous or separated onto different small islands. Because of this, products produced via economies of scale can outcompete higher-quality artisanal products.
> We are a mostly flat country Eh? The US is the opposite of "mostly flat". And large swaths of the mostly flat part have low population density. The country is also very regional with considerable local diversity in what is produced and available locally. The US produces a lot of very local artisanal products throughout the country that don't travel very far that are based on local tradition and history. That's been…