Mental distraction from information/choice overload is a common problem worldwide. Having an anchor for our taste and what we are meant to do provides a more stable path without being easily swayed by cyclical trends that are just like seasonal wind. But is good taste innate or honed by practice?
In this post, we’ll look at Matsuura Yataro 松浦弥太郎, who is a renowned essayist and ex-chief editor of Kurashi no Techo (Notes on everyday living), a magazine dedicated to promoting lifestyle aesthetics.
Matsuura evangelizes cultivating a good sense through daily practice of thoughtful selections. He also emphasizes being focused and intentional on what really moves you, and proactively offer your strength and skills to better the community.
Who is Matsuura Yataro 松浦弥太郎
Feeling like an outcast in a society that rewards following a predestined path forward, Matsuura quitted high school and did day labor to support himself. With a strong desire to reinvent himself elsewhere, he started multiple wandering trips in the US. Facing language/cultural barriers, he questioned what he really wanted to accomplish in a foreign country, he then braved ahead by boldly greeting people and opening up to any opportunity available.
He bumped into second-hand bookstores in New York City and was fascinated by their selection as well as the warm welcome from fellow readers, which was lacking from the world outside for someone who couldn’t speak English well. Due to language barriers, he only immersed in art, photography and children books, that opened a door for him when those books were lacking in Japan. Through visiting different bookstores, he learnt more about the art of picking books and personalizing services for specific clients. He then wanted to promote a similar culture in Japan, to create a space for people to meet, relax and read. It was a stark contrast with then Japanese bookstores that were brightly lighted like a hardware store and offered no place to congregate. This became his calling when he returned to Tokyo, first by visiting cultural celebrities in person and handpicked books he brought back from US for them. In the 80s, there were not many bookstores selling foreign art books, so his personalized service became a hit.
These experiences both sharpened his senses on what people would like and built a foundation of his future career as managing editor and curator. After opening a mobile bookstore and then the renowned COW BOOKS store in Nakameguro, he began curating cultural events and writing for lifestyle magazines. As his influence grew, he was chosen to be the chief editor of Kurashi no Techo magazine at age 40, an exception in Japan for a leader without a formal university degree. He successfully turned around the magazine for profitability and meeting modern needs. He then found his own company promoting healthy eating and living, and continues writing for various magazines.
as entrepreneur
- curator of various cultural exhibitions
- bookseller - COWBOOKS in Meguro provides a hub for information exchange and nurturing creativity. It runs like a library with books curated by Matsuura himself, where people can enjoy coffee and read in a relaxed environment.
as content creator
- prolific author with over 100 books and serializing magazine columns on subjects of living well, finding your vocation, honing your character, etc.
- a trusted recommender in music, art, lifestyle products.
why is Matsuura inspiring
When I first came across Matsuura’s books in the public library, I was in a personal crisis and felt quite lost. It was thus easy to resonate with his wandering experiences in his 20s in the US, when he was running away from failing the common expectation in Japan, and trying desperately to find a bearing and reestablish an identity in a new country. His kihons (core basics, or guiding principles) of being open, warm and independent strike a chord in me and I began to read all his essays.
Matsuura never shys away from sharing his personal stumbles and how he struggled to grow himself into the person he is today. His books contain mini lessons that are easy to read and put into daily practice. Here are his personal traits that I admire the most:
- action-oriented: Many people assume Japanese to be shy or not being proactive. Matsuura is the opposite, as he aims to always be the first to greet people, to take initiatives, propose partnership and to act on plans. He attributes this to his days as a day laborer, where competition was tough and he had to stand out to get picked to earn a day’s living.
- possesses good taste with a sharp sense of the right thing to choose and do now. He recalls his training from his mother who always asked him to choose and explain his most favorite work after visiting an exhibition. To him, this practice has forced him to think for himself and establish his own criteria on what and why he likes something.
- meticulous curation skill, be able to understand and cater to different kind of people. He credits this skill to his 20-30s years when he was peddling 2nd hand art books he collected from New York City to prominent artists in Tokyo.
- cherish in-person relationships and always on the lookout for what benefits people. Have an imminent trust of people as companions.
- very disciplined: avoids indulging in anything. For example, he only eats his favorite food on birthday and sets a firm working schedule for both himself and staff to protect private time. And of course no work email or call during off hours.
Matsuura’s tips on honing one’s sense and taste
I have collected the following tips from his various books and organized it by traits:
curate
- always sum up your experience with the most impressive thing (e.g., which painting you like most in an exhibition). This sharpens your sense and skill of picking things
- always have a bucket list of things you want to see and do
- whatever you select should enhance you in some traits you lack
- visit national cultural treasures (time-tested assets) for inspiration
be principled
- write down your kihon, things/value you treasure and use that as your amulet (lucky charm) instead. This makes you conscious of your standard and anchor, and will support you through loss and crisis.
- when you are doing something, always be aware of “for what are you doing this?”
be honest and non-dualistic
- see the light in the darkest moment. As detailed in his book “The worst and best bookstore”, the best and worst coexist in the same place and time. Normal and abnormal too.
- when you express yourself, share both the good and bad to make it more interesting and real, because reality is like that. A person or world with only good will look very contrived and untrustworthy. Only when you mix in the abnormal will people get interested and surprised. To be crowd-pleasing is to appeal to the majority with a common, averagely good offering. It is an unsurprising and boring place where everyone is flocking to.
- keep a fine balance all the time.
- don’t be afraid of making mistakes. In fact, Matsuura started keeping “failure journals” since age 25. In those, he reflected on each mistake he made and the lesson he learnt to apply to future endeavors.
- respect everything and everyone you meet. Even if you don’t like something, it has its own strength
- train yourself to see the essence in everything
- train yourself to know what should/shouldn’t be done immediately in any context
be proactive
- be the first to greet others
- be upfront to take initiatives
- don’t stop evolving
- maintain strong work ethics
- work hard to let people select you
- don’t overwork. Take off at 5:30pm so you can enjoy life, and absorb what’s good to turn it into nutrient for better work
be curious
- write down things that you encounter and don’t understand on an index card and store them in a box. Each month, go through the box and discover all the new ideas worth exploring. It might open up a new path for your life.
- see and experience a new place with your own senses, not through someone else’s lens (guide book, online recommendations)
- have an open itinerary with no hotel reservation or plans. Rather, the trip is built piece by piece from interaction with locals, following their lead on hotel, bookstore, cafe and places to see or things to do. Instead of getting caged in a predefined routine, seeing what you are supposed to see, eating the same like others, use your senses to absorb everything.
- view travelling as a self-reflection by going to an unknown place, meeting strangers, and being aware of your reactions and reflecting on your life’s unique experiences so far. Matsuura views each trip as an opportunity to be completely reborn
- produce a book totally on your own called “this is xxx (your favorite location name)” from paper, pen and camera