People
Let me start by giving thanks to all the people listed here. Their lives and wisdom captured in their writings have all changed me for good in one way or the other. When I’m writing this post, I gradually come to realize that they all share something in common: they are full of zest and are always looking forward to a better future. They all have very refined tastes, perhaps coming from being independent thinkers who do not outsource to external influences.
I am extremely blessed to live at a time when you can have access to people far away in geography or era, so I could come across them in print or online. 本当にありがとうございました!
my role models
When I examine my list of role models, I came to realize that most are from Japan! Together, they are like my advisory board, often guiding me on the right path with their writings.
- Arimoto Yoko 有元葉子 on fiercely living out your life
- Wakamiya Masako 若宮正子 on lifelong learning as purpose
- Nakano Yoshihisa 中野善壽 on acting and deciding in the current moment
- Matsuura Yataro 松浦弥太郎 on cultivating one’s own taste
Tsubata Shuichi & Hideko 津端修一と英子
Tsubata Shuichi: what we accumulated is not financial wealth, but nature’s timeI came to know the Tsubata couple from a Taiwan book “Meeting my future self” which profiles a dozen elderlies who are living out their dreams and purposes with intention. Tsubata was the lead architect for a new-town project near Nagoya and aimed to build a housing complex that existed in harmony with nature. When his plan was rejected in favor of cheaper, faster and bigger building, he vowed to build a house and small farm nearby as a remedy to reforest the land. Their rural farming lifestyle is self-sustaining, harmonious and caught media attention in the last decade when people started to scrutinize relentless growth. They might not be wealthy, but their quality of life was very rich. I think it is so admirable that they were able to keep their own pace of life and prioritize their wellbeing in everything they did. It is as if the outside fads and noises find no conduit to permeate into their own plots of cabin and farm.
Shuichi’s last project as an architect before his death at 90 was for a mental health rehab center in Kyushu. From the free flowing design, to the use of warm wood and a planting garden, Shuichi volunteered his time and skills to make sure every detail in the center helps in patient recovery.
While he was busy with his work, Hideko often cooked for the younger generation who came to visit, making sure the youth took in wholesome ingredients from their own backyard farm (something that is badly lacking in the commonly found ultra-processed food in Japan). I think the Tsubata couple’s key to longetivity lied in their healthy and independent lifestyle, and it is heart-warming to see their gatherings with younger people over Hideko’s cakes and homestyle meals. There was a genuine mutual attraction among them that was not defined by filial responsibilities or social expectations, but a simple yearning of spending quality time together.
Hiruma Eiko 比留間榮子
I reviewed Hiruma-sensei’s book “Time is medicine” back in 2022. As the Guiness holder of the world’s oldest practicing pharmacist, her vitality and care turned a corner pharmacy into both a drug dispensary and soulful rest-stop for neighbors. Miraculously, her care transcends geographical boundary as her book taught me how to live fully in the present moment without lamenting a painful past. Shortly after I wrote the review, I became seriously ill. When I was lost in fear and despair, a lot of the books I read before came out from memory to “rescue” and calm me. So I wrote a letter to Hiruma-sensei’s grandson (who ran the pharmacy with her), to express my gratitude for her sharing the experiences she gained in 9 decades of living. Regrettably, Hiruma-sensei passed away this year (2025), but I am sure her wise words will continue to be my light.
Tanaka Akimitsu 田中昭光
Mr. Tanaka runs the antique shop Yumeido in Nara, just opposite from Todaiji. Besides being an avid art connoisseur, he is also an ikebana master and poet. He does not belong to any ikebana branch, but try to replicate nature and the seasons using only wildflowers around his home. His arrangement in antique vessels gives me a feeling of nature quietly living out in cycles, and the vessels’ patina reminds me of Byodo-in’s former color. What I likes his style above others is because it is extremely restrained yet full of life. Readers are not just treated to the delicate wildflowers coming alive in Tanaka’s tasteful tea rooms, but can also peek into his memory of tea ceremonies with scholars and poets from a bygone era. I am thankful that his paintings and poems specially created for these ceremonies invites me into a world of furyuu (風流).
Kadokura Tania 門倉多仁亜
Ms. Kadokura is a cooking teacher and author. She likes to share lifestyle tips and mindsets her German maternal family passed down. What I like about her books is the way she seamlessly blends Japanese sensitivity with German simplicity and discipline. In her whole life, she has moved and lived in many countries, but is always able to make anywhere a cozy home. Her recipes and lifestyle tips are warm, colorful but never too extravagant. I especially like the way she balances rationality and sentimentality, and scales her attitude from organizing a kitchen and information management, to decluttering one’s mind and social relationships.
Yoshizawa Hisako 吉沢久子
I first came to know Yoshizawa-san from her student Abe Ayako’s book on continuous learning in old age. For me, the strongest message from that book was the quarterlyl book club Yoshizawa hosted: selected members would prepare a research presentation on a social issue. To prepare for her turn, Abe traveled to Germany for a month-long research on water usage. Such rigor has piqued my interest on what kind of person Yoshizawa was.
I read Yoshizawa’s own autobiography later, and found her to be an extremely independent, curious and action-based person. She took over the book club from her late husband in her 60s and ran it for 3 decades. The themes were all driven by her self-proclamied biggest joy: observation, deep research, consulting domain experts and asking the right questions. Obviously, the participants like Abe didn’t take these presesntations lightly as one couldn’t just clip some newspaper articles and call it a day. There was a mutual respect and expectation from fellow participants that they were all-in to grow their knowledge together. To me, this is fun and exciting!
Even in her 90s, Yoshizawa kept a full schedule of writing, giving speech, and hosting various social events. She said that aging gifts one the ability to be more aware of things one cannot notice (or take for granted) when young, such as a sunset or change of cloud colors. A new day also gives us the chance to meet an unknown and new self. Yoshizawa passed away at age 101 in 2019, and I think her drive to reinvent herself everyday with new knowledge was the fuel to keep her going for a whole century.
Masuno Shunmyo 枡野俊明
My first impression of Reverend Shunmyo Masuno was that of a prolific author and head priest of a 450-year-old Zen Buddhist temple in Japan. His books are extremely approachable for resolving everyday troubles, as he offers 1-page practical Zen tidbits to relieve one from mundane worries and bigger conflicts. Later I was even happier to know that he is also an award-winning Zen garden designer with a big portfolio around the world. His designs do not just stay in the asethetics level, but attempt to convey the essence of zen through the placement of landscape elements to provoke a philosophical dialog. Perhaps the one that’s most memorable to me is the garden in the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo. Through his play with symbols and lines, Masuno was able to compress Canada’s geology (Rocky Mountain and oceans) into a rooftop garden admist the crowdest city in the world. His designs do not just stay in the asethetics level, but attempt to convey the essence of zen through the placement of landscape elements.
Kengo Kuma 隈研吾
One will not miss at least one of Kuma’s works with a trip to Japan. From big projects such as Japan National Stadium (main arena for Tokyo Olympic 2020), Starbucks Reserve in Tokyo, Kadokawa Culture Museum, Nezu Museum, the 5th generation Kabuki-za, to smaller cafes and shops, Kuma’s footprints are everywhere. In addition to being a highly prolific architect, what sets him apart from other architects is the volume of books he published, as he claims to use writing to organize his thought process. Of particular interest is his autobiography/portfolio 全仕事, which is very precious as he traced back his whole career with all the major turning points and key projects.
I have always enjoyed his signature style of using local and natural materials to give shape to a structure. And it is from this book that I came to understand the origin of this local preference. He was an upcoming architect when the bubble economy burst. For the next 10 years, he lost his studio and all projects in Tokyo, but found a new sense of purpose by working alongside craftsmen in rural areas. It was through such close collaboration (which was unusual in large urban projects) that he learnt about traditional techniques and materials passed down from generations and stood the test of time. That period was so crucial to his professional development that he thought it was a paradox of the so-called “lost decade”.
Two of my favorite Kuma works are the Suntory Museum of Art and Portland Japanese Garden Cultural Village. Even though they look quite different and are in completely opposite settings (the former inside a high rise complex in Tokyo, the latter on top of a hillside in a secluded park), they do share something in common. Both serve as a soothing rest stop from the noise outside, and bring us closer to interesting cultural artifacts and events from far away. In Portland Japanese Garden, I was so amazed by how his design blends naturally with the Pacific Northwest foliage in the background. It’s like a classic Hiroshige woodprint depicting a small timber lodging in the woods along the Kiso-Kaido!