Instagram ///
興味を持ってくれて有難う御座いました！
仕事 0:11 - 1:06
for work? well. i am a visual merchandizer. I do Italian fashion.
What's particularly good about it though is not that I am working for a company, but that I get to do freelance. when I work, I go to work. when I finish, I go home. I don't have to be there from a set time until a set time.
usually you write a report and get your boss to sign it to confirm you worked. but with display work it's different. you can't really see how much we made from the exact hours I worked. so seeing the value of my work really comes down to my boss trusting me.
自由さ 1:06 - 2:41
hmm.. that sense of freedom. why is it so important?
well, I've been with my boss for so long. somehow this trust motivates me even more. it makes me want to work harder, and makes me able to live happier.
for me, I feel extremely grateful for this kind of relationship. because of that gratitude, it makes me more motivated.
on the other hand, when you have a boss who gives you a paycheck for the amount of work you do.. well. it makes you want to work for exactly how much time you are paid for.
instead i'm trusted to do the amount of work that I feel is right.. and because of that I'm happy, and want to do an even better job.
安定感 2:41 - 4:54
stability. in japanese society, of course stable people are seen as those who get high marks - they get into good schools, and thus get into a good company, and get a stable salary. that's stable right?
these days, i don't think people feel that way.
I wonder why it changed... perhaps because of the population issue, we felt the need for change.
if we don't start interacting with the rest of the world, sooner or later our jobs are going to disappear. people started realizing that.
so, once people started to consider what it actually looks like to work with non-japanese people, we started to see that our country has a lot of shortcomings.
why did we start feeling motivated to change things? first of all, economic motivation. that got us moving. if we don't change, we're gonna lose our jobs and lose our money. but that's just one part of this.
we weren't all thinking that if we make a lot of money our country will be very happy. I think we started to wonder for each person, how can they be happy without money? one route seems to be through meeting lots of different people, and sharing lots of things, and mixing with different cultures. perhaps the balance of the economic necessity, and some desire for international interaction is what's causing our shift in mindset.
GKA 4:54 - 5:47
we originally came to Ota for our daughter's school. this school is one-of-a-kind in Japan. from 1st grade till they graduate high school, they are taught 70% in english, and 30% in japanese. from there, they go out into the world, and are encouraged to think and act, and lead, globally.
日本優秀 5:47 - 6:44
the common educational ideal in Japan is having good marks on tests. with that you can get into a really good school.
but in GKA, what makes you a good student is not having the best grades, but being a really bright individual. of course there are grades and they matter, but here when someone has low grades we choose to see that they must have talent somewhere else, not that they are not excellent. so in our school, we are more likely to say that everyone is gifted. tests are just one small part of education after all.
個性 6:44 - 7:31
we have come to be educated that to lack a strong sense of individuality is an easier way to live. there are lots of people that break the norm of course, but to a large degree we're taught to think we're all just about average.
I don't know if that's good or bad... but, for us, we want to help our daughter explore her potential, as far as she can go. or to help her be able to do that for herself.
日本さ 7:31 - 9:28
20 or 30 years ago when I was working in Italy.. well it wasn't that I didn't feel a sense of discrimination. Back then I would try really hard to make myself italian. to match the people around me... however when I decided to do things my way, the Japanese way, on the contrary I was treated with much more respect.
italians you know, they're very good at arguing. american people are very good at voicing their opinions, european people too. they can express it very clearly. I am not that way. I always of course think if you are that way, that's great. But the thought that it's bad that I am not that way, that Japanese people aren't that way... "we are becoming a global world so we have to change how we act!!" I don't really feel that way, I think the japanese way of being modest and giving in conversation is okay, and actually something we should be more confident about.
as I've come to understand that, i've become more interested in kimono and incense, and it all feels just right. of course, I don't mean everyone should be wearing kimonos and stuff, it's great to be global and interact with the rest of the world. but also when you do that, remember that it's okay to be confident about being japanese, and to be yourself.
喪服 9:28 - 11:03
There's this thing called 'moufuku.' It's what you wear when people pass away. It's black, which represents the pain and sadness of their passing. It helps bring that emotion out. It lacks the usual white lace. It has less cloth around the collar. it's stricter around the neck. the part of the belt that comes out below is also shorter. the string usually has tassel that flowers up, but for moufuku it's stuck below.
it takes 15 minutes to put them on. but while you're being mindful of putting each piece together, you find yourself naturally becoming the emotion it represents.
to put it another way, when you go to a wedding ceremony, it's all bright, colorful, and flowery. while you're putting that on, you feel that way.
you don't need words... is a sense of japanese culture I've come to understand over the last year of wearing kimonos.
習字 11:03 - 11:58
and the same thing with keeping fire with coals, making tea... with calligraphy too. writing letters, and essays. first things first, you have to prepare the ink. to get it ready you mix the ink with water on the stone. but the color matters. if you do it too much, it'll be too thick. if you don't rub it enough, it'll be diluted. with a lot of water, it'll be blurry. so while scraping the inkstone, you're preparing for what you're going to write.
丁寧に 11:58 - 12:17
For me, the most important thing is trust. By doing things politely, with care, you can express your feeling. and what you get from that... well, you get to make people happy.
信頼 12:18 - 12:31
trust is the greatest paycheck. more than money, it makes your life rich. and also the things you are good at.
people who trust you are
うま 12:31 - 13:03
So, I love horses. I really love them. And they're so big right? But they're just big cowards really, they're very timid. for me, relationships built on trust are where I find happiness. making a relationship like that with a horse is extremely difficult. but somehow, within that, the fact that they can understand and come to trust you... makes me very happy.