Through books, we see the world from different perspectives.
How do you purchase new books these days?
Kindle. I am still conflicted about it. I still feel conflicted about it, but I think it is better to have it as an object so that I can get into it. So, even on my Kindle, I take a screenshot of the parts I like and print it out and paste it, or I print out and organize in my notebook the memorable and memorable words that were said to me on the phone. I like to objectify things.
Were there any books you enjoyed recently?
It is Naoki Matayoshi's "Ningen" which became a book last year. I thought I should read it as a serial, so I also subscribed to a newspaper for that period. I had never had the experience of having my daily life intersect with the act of reading a favorite author's work in serial form on a daily basis, so it was a new experience for me.
I guess being able to switch on your own thoughts is what makes it fun.
I think the best part is being able to see the world from a different perspective than my own. Every day there is a conflict between the two extremes. One is the desire to make something that is uniquely me, and the other is the desire to make clothes that are different from my own thought process and without knowing how to make clothes. It's difficult because other people think it's out of character, but in the case of books, it's interesting because I get the sense that I'm using a different brain than I normally do by reading them.
You've been working on the Kindle and then newspapers. So, is there a division between the web and books?
I like to spend time alone at home reading books. While reading, I feel as if I am having a dialogue with the words. My reading speed is slow, so I think it takes me a long time. On the other hand, I prefer to read a lot on the Web. I don't limit myself to a certain genre, but take in a variety of things. I think it is better to share it with my team at work, so I report every Monday on what new things I have been exposed to. And it is rather lengthy.
So how do you divide your book collection between your company and your home?
The ones in the office are related to the theme or have things in them that I can use right away at work. I think it is good to have books in sight as I work, so it is also a way of not forgetting them. This bookshelf is already full, so I sometimes replace the contents. I have a lot of manga on my bookshelves at home. I am a story-oriented person when it comes to manga, and recently I read all the volumes of "Sanctuary" and "The Bird of Fire" again, and once again I felt their greatness to the extent that my mind short-circuited.
Fashion is read in the span of a season, which is only half a year, while books are read for a long time. How do you feel about that?
I believe that a book that you want to read over and over again and clothes that you want to wear over and over again are close but quite far apart. Books can go beyond 10, 20, or 30 years. However, the period of time you want to wear a piece of clothing is shorter than that of a book. For example, if I continue to wear it for 20 years, it's a pretty long time. In that sense, I feel there is a difference in lifespan. With a book, even if it is 100 years old, I can really get emotionally involved with it. Fashion is not like that, so I make clothes thinking that I would be happy if I could do that with fashion.
