I have seen beautiful places in the world. To me, the most beautiful have been of two kinds: totally unspoiled natural beauty and totally controlled gardens. Really, only a few such instances of either have really succeeded in taking me aback. I dream more about the latter though. The first of its kind was an ancient river valley in Morocco where the locals cultivated wonderful fruits and vegetables in semi-bounded areas with only dirt paths connecting the many different plots. The second was the gardens of Japan, which were perhaps more pleasing to the eye, but certainly less productive and more artificially contrived. To my knowledge, America has neither of comparable examples of these. However, certain botanical gardens (and butterfly gardens) do offer slight competition and may in fact be worthy of a separate category of their own.

I think we can do better, so I propose a further blending of agriculture with landscaping. One might call it the idea of edible landscapes, human-based ecosystems, or aesthetic agriculture. I would like to use more powerful imagery, so perhaps “Eden Reborn” would suffice for now. While some people do visit farms for their beauty, such motivations are more often byproducts of ingrained nostalgia for our more agrarian past than objective regard for beauty. These feelings neither teach us much about how humans have used the biological systems around them historically nor do they actually bring us closer to actually engaging further in the process ourselves. It is in effect a typical tourist experience: completely separate both spatially and culturally from the social spheres most people inhabit today. This does not mean that such modern agriculture examples are without merit, since chances are that they will keep us well fed for a long time to come. However, agriculture could be much more aesthetically pleasing and engaging for urbanites, but it would have to be totally revamped. It must move beyond its current homogeneous landscapes that have been designed with mechanized efficiency primarily in mind. My impulse is to create something that is both beautiful, productive, and engaging.

What more do I have to report? I recently conceived of a new product for Japanese restaurants: the zen sandbox. I don't know how you'll feel about this idea at first blush, but the people I've met recently seem to think it is a pretty good idea. I first proposed it to Mayumi a few days ago because the small area outside the front of her cafe needs something. At first, I thought a small proch-like setting was n order. However, I then realized that I had never actually seen a porch in Japan, at least not one in operation as such. The traditional way to utilize this extra storefront space is to build a dark brown wooden lattice that covers the window. Mayumi tells me that without such a barrier, the people sitting inside eating would not feel comfortable. Still, this still leaves a bit of dead space between the window and the street. Mayumi's situation is made worse by her huge rusting air conditioning sitting in that space. I told her to scrap the thing entirely for a smaller and more efficient model, but she will probably just end up covering it with a lattice box. Anyway, my idea was to build a sandbox in this 6x4 foot space and let children play in it while their mothers ate lunch at the traditional table by the window. This makes even better sense since older women prefer sitting in chairs because their knees give term pain when they sit on the floor. The sandbox would have those smooth black rocks in it as well as an assortment of toys that the kids could play with. Also, when children weren't present, the toys could be removed and adults could have a try at grooming the zen garden in whatever manner pleased them. Amazingly, the idea of zen rock gardens as interactive spaces is completely foreign to the Japanese, although some are aware of the toys we sell based on this idea.

I also had an idea for a design mural for the main inside wall of Mayumi's cafe. I originally advocated for a painted mural, but then changed my mind on the basis of folky examples I have seen in my life. This kid of style takes a lot of talent to pull off in a classy way and I have concerns about the depth of the talent pool of artists in the Kansai region with extensive mural experience. Artists and their materials are also usually quite expensive. Instead, I pitched the idea of a three dimensional landscape mural based on the most dominant image in my mind when I think of Japan. At the bottom of the wall, one would see the edge of a dense city with big concrete buildings, well lit streets, and some cool looking neon signs. Above that, there would be shrines, temples, and pagodas of different designs with traditional lanterns. Surrounding and looming large above them, one would see a mountain landscape with a small strip of sky above. There, I would place a small light box crafted in a circular shape with traditional Japanese paper covering it. Inside, a bright red light would produce the image of a bright rising (or setting) sun similar to the one depicted on their national flag. This would require some good planning to execute effectively, but I think the materials would be pretty simple: plaster for the buildings, some paint, LED lights for the city, burned bamboo for tree trunks, and some moss or other natural materials for the foliage. One could turn off the lights during the daytime and even change the color of the moss to emulate the seasonal changes which so captivate the Japanese.