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300-year-old Tokyo comb company sells 30k-yen ($200) wooden hair combs

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Re: 300-year-old Tokyo comb company sells 30k-yen ($200) wooden hair combs

#11

Post by bluepizza »

reallymental wrote: post #4

I find it endearing, fascinating but ultimately tedious that the Japanese put SO much effort into both seemingly mundane AND intricate objects. I realize that it's more a combination of tradition and their self imposed ~exile~ (isolationism, corrected) from the world for a long time. But there must be a reason why they excel, I mean really excel at anything they put their minds to. Their population also tolerates thi…

Isolation lasted only 260 years, and ended more than 150 years ago.

Explaining luxury combs because of sakoku is a bit absurd. It's akin to explaining luxury handbags due to the vikings invasions.

Re: 300-year-old Tokyo comb company sells 30k-yen ($200) wooden hair combs

#12

Post by zamadatix »

ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #5
reallymental wrote: post #4

I find it endearing, fascinating but ultimately tedious that the Japanese put SO much effort into both seemingly mundane AND intricate objects. I realize that it's more a combination of tradition and their self imposed ~exile~ (isolationism, corrected) from the world for a long time. But there must be a reason why they excel, I mean really excel at anything they put their minds to. Their population also tolerates thi…

Yes because they understand the point of life. It is the creating and the making that makes things worth living. That is why chat gpt and similar tech is going to make our lives more meaningless. Writing and struggling and completing the poem is itself more than half of what makes a poem worthy. The final artifact which chatgpt provides is meaningless without that effort.

The output you create with tools doesn't have to be any less rewarding that the output you create without them. A good game isn't inherently meaningless to your life because you used existing tools far beyond your capacity to construct alone (a computer, a compiler, a game engine) and a bad game isn't inherently meaningful to you just because you made it out of a tree with your bare hands. How you wield the tools (innate or external) is much more relevant to creating something meaningful to you and should extend well past when we have tools "bettet" at doing something than we are ourselves.

Re: 300-year-old Tokyo comb company sells 30k-yen ($200) wooden hair combs

#13

Post by jonahhorowitz »

reallymental wrote: post #4

I find it endearing, fascinating but ultimately tedious that the Japanese put SO much effort into both seemingly mundane AND intricate objects. I realize that it's more a combination of tradition and their self imposed ~exile~ (isolationism, corrected) from the world for a long time. But there must be a reason why they excel, I mean really excel at anything they put their minds to. Their population also tolerates thi…

I've always felt that Japan takes things the rest of the world is known for and does it better. Some examples to add on to yours above.

- Better denim than America

- Better coffee than Italy/France/etc

- Better French pastries than France

Re: 300-year-old Tokyo comb company sells 30k-yen ($200) wooden hair combs

#14

Post by kianlocke »

ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #5
reallymental wrote: post #4

I find it endearing, fascinating but ultimately tedious that the Japanese put SO much effort into both seemingly mundane AND intricate objects. I realize that it's more a combination of tradition and their self imposed ~exile~ (isolationism, corrected) from the world for a long time. But there must be a reason why they excel, I mean really excel at anything they put their minds to. Their population also tolerates thi…

Yes because they understand the point of life. It is the creating and the making that makes things worth living. That is why chat gpt and similar tech is going to make our lives more meaningless. Writing and struggling and completing the poem is itself more than half of what makes a poem worthy. The final artifact which chatgpt provides is meaningless without that effort.

I don't think that struggling to write poetry makes the poem worthy. The final result, and its impact on the performer/reader/listener does (and I say this as a poet).

Many of my most profoundly impactful (to myself and others) works birthed themselves painlessly in thirty minutes or less. Several ones that mean the most to me in less than five minutes.

Re: 300-year-old Tokyo comb company sells 30k-yen ($200) wooden hair combs

#15

Post by mbivert »

There's something pleasant to hand-made tools, dishes, etc. Taking the time to enjoy using, observing something as mundane as a mug or a comb on a regular basis, instead of rushing mindlessly through the day, surrounded by cheap, mass-produced, disposable items.

They're an even greater source of joy when you have some knowledge on them; the same goes for architecture, flora, etc.

Re: 300-year-old Tokyo comb company sells 30k-yen ($200) wooden hair combs

#16

Post by dontupvoteme »

reallymental wrote: post #4

I find it endearing, fascinating but ultimately tedious that the Japanese put SO much effort into both seemingly mundane AND intricate objects. I realize that it's more a combination of tradition and their self imposed ~exile~ (isolationism, corrected) from the world for a long time. But there must be a reason why they excel, I mean really excel at anything they put their minds to. Their population also tolerates thi…

Isolationism isn't Exile. [also you're missing Photography gear :) ]

Re: 300-year-old Tokyo comb company sells 30k-yen ($200) wooden hair combs

#17

Post by marak830 »

jonahhorowitz wrote: post #13
reallymental wrote: post #4

I find it endearing, fascinating but ultimately tedious that the Japanese put SO much effort into both seemingly mundane AND intricate objects. I realize that it's more a combination of tradition and their self imposed ~exile~ (isolationism, corrected) from the world for a long time. But there must be a reason why they excel, I mean really excel at anything they put their minds to. Their population also tolerates thi…

I've always felt that Japan takes things the rest of the world is known for and does it better. Some examples to add on to yours above. - Better denim than America - Better coffee than Italy/France/etc - Better French pastries than France

Strong disagree with he coffee. I've lived here for 10 years, and coffee here is quite generic.

Re: 300-year-old Tokyo comb company sells 30k-yen ($200) wooden hair combs

#18

Post by guessmyname »

jonahhorowitz wrote: post #13
reallymental wrote: post #4

I find it endearing, fascinating but ultimately tedious that the Japanese put SO much effort into both seemingly mundane AND intricate objects. I realize that it's more a combination of tradition and their self imposed ~exile~ (isolationism, corrected) from the world for a long time. But there must be a reason why they excel, I mean really excel at anything they put their minds to. Their population also tolerates thi…

I've always felt that Japan takes things the rest of the world is known for and does it better. Some examples to add on to yours above. - Better denim than America - Better coffee than Italy/France/etc - Better French pastries than France

I agree, in spirit, but there are many bad coffee shops and restaurants through out Japan too. They are, obviously, not depicted in the media.

The things that I can praise are mostly things that don’t usually exist outside of Japan, either because foreigners don’t like them or because it’s difficult to make them, some examples include:

- “smart” toilets -- https://jp.toto.com/products/toilet/

- (fresh) もち -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochi

- 卵かけご飯 -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamago_kake_gohan

- あんこ -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_bean_paste

- variety of 漬物 -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukemono

- (cheap! fresh and delicious) sushi (the one we find in American restaurants is… well, Americanized, e.g. cucumber, avocado, bunch of sauce, etc.; you may as well buy californian rolls and call it a day). Good sushi in American restaurants is expensive, that’s why I put emphasis in the word “cheap”.

- 神戸ビーフ -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef which you can easily buy in America too, but somehow the quality is not the same, I am not sure why, maybe the pastures or the way they treat the cows. I have no idea.

- kitchen knives -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_kitchen_knife , for example, e.g. Santoku (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santoku), Yanagi-ba (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanagi_ba), Nakiri (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakiri_bōchō), Deba (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deba_bōchō), among others.

That said, Japan also produces a lot of silly stuff:

- U$200 (square-shaped) watermelons -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_watermelon

- U$50 (Egg of the Sun) mangos -- https://www.m-tokusan.or.jp/en/main-products/mango/

- U$200 (Yubari King) melons -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yubari_King

- 95 ft² apartments -- https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2022/10/09/general/japan-m... —and— https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/business/tiny-apartments-...

Re: 300-year-old Tokyo comb company sells 30k-yen ($200) wooden hair combs

#19

Post by resonious »

reallymental wrote: post #4

I find it endearing, fascinating but ultimately tedious that the Japanese put SO much effort into both seemingly mundane AND intricate objects. I realize that it's more a combination of tradition and their self imposed ~exile~ (isolationism, corrected) from the world for a long time. But there must be a reason why they excel, I mean really excel at anything they put their minds to. Their population also tolerates thi…

I remember watching a thing about a Japanese geologist. It had to do with figuring out what kind of rock is in the earth's mantle. The way they do this is apparently by just squishing regular rocks (very tiny ones) with machines to simulate the mantle's pressure. Apparently this changes the color and other properties of the rock, effectively making a new rock. They said these machines are hard to manufacture after a certain point because if the precision is off by even less than a mm, it'd destroy itself while applying pressure. The geologist hired a Japanese craftsman to hand-assemble a new machine, and it worked well enough to break the record and basically discover a new rock we hadn't seen before. Wish I remembered the names!

Anyway, I thought that's a cool example of the intense craftsman culture "paying off" beyond just receiving admiration for impressive combs.

Re: 300-year-old Tokyo comb company sells 30k-yen ($200) wooden hair combs

#20

Post by dontupvoteme »

jonahhorowitz wrote: post #13
reallymental wrote: post #4

I find it endearing, fascinating but ultimately tedious that the Japanese put SO much effort into both seemingly mundane AND intricate objects. I realize that it's more a combination of tradition and their self imposed ~exile~ (isolationism, corrected) from the world for a long time. But there must be a reason why they excel, I mean really excel at anything they put their minds to. Their population also tolerates thi…

I've always felt that Japan takes things the rest of the world is known for and does it better. Some examples to add on to yours above. - Better denim than America - Better coffee than Italy/France/etc - Better French pastries than France

Moreover they're basically the only ones in the entire world who make good Photography equipment. (Minus some niche non-consumer German/Swiss companies)

+ Their whole revolutionary industrialization with Deming is something for the history books.

As that one economics joke goes "There are four types of economies in the world - Developed, Developing, Japan and Argentina."

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