Where the "Puebko style" is born. A record of manufacturing in India.

Why are Puebko's products so attractive? They are not Scandinavian, industrial, or natural, but rather neutral in appearance, with no sense of nationality or decoration. I think the secret lies in the planning and design process.

Maybe it's because so much of the world is marketing-driven. What do customers want? and then adding more and more of their opinions, so to speak, the "corners" are removed and the product becomes rounder and rounder. and then the "corners" are removed, so to speak, and the product becomes rounder and rounder. But there are customers who are not satisfied with that. So, what are they looking for? That's what I'm always thinking about.

The point is that rather than aiming for the greatest common denominator under the council system, only ideas that Mr. Tanaka has thoroughly thought out in his own mind and that are not "frivolous" will be accepted. True creation is a solitary process.

I am not trying to say that I am doing something great. For example, Sakana-kun and Shohei Ohtani got to where they are by doing what they love. They were not forced to do it. In my case, first and foremost, I was motivated to create and sell something because I thought it was interesting. It is a continuous process. But at the same time, I felt that it was not good enough to make the same products as other brands. That is why I would be grateful if only one in 1,000 people liked Puebko's products.

He says that he sometimes thinks carefully while creating prototypes in Japan, but that the seeds of ideas often fall while he is rushing around.

I often get inspiration from things I see abroad or materials I discover. I don't have much of an imagination, so it is impossible for me to come up with innovative ideas out of the blue. That is why I look for the seeds of ideas by seeing various things in the city and at exhibitions. What Takeshi Takagi says, "Ideas are proportional to the distance you travel," is exactly right, and I try to visit different cultures as much as possible.

An episode symbolizing this occurred during the interview.

We were in the middle of our search for materials. In the middle of town, Mr. Tanaka suddenly stopped and asked for a woven rope basket on the back of a donkey resting on the side of the road. Negotiations began with the person next to him, who was probably the owner of the donkey, and a business deal was successfully concluded. He told me that he wanted to use the basket as a reference for his next exhibit. It is not difficult to imagine that he is always keeping his antenna up and various things are flowing in his mind at the same time.

A staff member of "Puebco" who accompanied me for this interview told me this. He is always looking for new products and hints on how to display them, and when we walked down the street together, he would say, "I like this, I like that. The president is also results-oriented and demanding. But it's a strictness that says, "Let's enjoy our work 120% at that moment, and let's get it done."