Words and Pictures

Japan has always been a part of my life. Why? Because I was born there. I didn’t live there very long, in fact, I don’t even remember it because we moved to California just six weeks after my birth. Nevertheless, Japan has been a part of my consciousness and identity all of my life. Any time I have the opportunity to be in Japan — and there have been a couple — my senses are on high-alert. Japanese designs are some of the best in the world, and I look everywhere for evidence of it. These lanterns outside a small restaurant in Tokyo are a perfect example of form and function working together, which is what design is all about.