{"id":1102,"date":"2009-01-09T23:52:20","date_gmt":"2009-01-09T14:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-01-09\/1102"},"modified":"2009-01-10T01:00:13","modified_gmt":"2009-01-09T16:00:13","slug":"japanese-attention-to-presentation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2009-01-09\/1102","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Attention to Presentation<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\nNOTE<\/b>: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nCoffee and Cake<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

An important component of Japanese culture is “presentation”, but\nit can quickly takes a backseat<\/span> when inconvenient, such as how much of Japan's\nnatural beauty has been disfigured by utility poles, wires, and street signs.\n(Examples on my blog over the years include:\n\nthis<\/a>\n·\nthis<\/a>\n·\nthis<\/a>\n·\nthis<\/a>\n·\nthis<\/a>\n·\nthis<\/a>.)<\/span><\/p>\n\n

So, it's especially nice when presentation is not only remembered, but\nreally done well. The shot above<\/span> was the after-meal coffee and cake that\ncame with the $10 lunch we had at an out-of-the-way cafe during our trip to Okinawa<\/a> last\nweekend.<\/p>\n\n

For $10, we got a big bowl of Okinawa-style soba and rice, five small\nplates of side dishes, hot tea, coffee, and the light after-meal cake.\nThat's a lot<\/i> for ten bucks, so you can't expect much along the lines\nof taste, quality, ambiance, and presentation, but this place had it all. It was wonderful<\/span>. Seth Godin<\/a>\nwould approve.<\/p>\n\n

The hotel we stayed at was also first class in\nthis respect. Near the pool they have an open-air building with a variety<\/span>\nof plush chairs and couches, reading material, a nice<\/span> piano, and a\nwell<\/span>-stocked bar. It was thoughtfully<\/span> laid out and appointed with tasteful,\ninviting furnishings, and each table had a floral<\/span> decoration appropriate to\nthe season...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 60 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSuggestions of an Auspicious New Year<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The thing is, had they not bothered with these little floral displays,\nno one<\/i> would have noticed. No one would<\/span> have thought “geez, this is\nnice, but somehow incomplete<\/i>.” Even without these little touches,\nthe place would have been wonderful.<\/p>\n\n

But they did bother. Someone had to come up with an appropriate design,\nprocure the plants, cut and arrange them in the small display vases that\nalso had to be procured, put them out, water them and otherwise maintain\nthem. That's a lot<\/span> of effort for a marginal<\/span> improvement in the ambiance,\nbut it hits at the deep-seated respect for “presentation”, and so they did\nit.<\/p>\n\n

Prior to developing an interest in photography, I would<\/span> have never\nnoticed them, but now I do<\/span> notice – and appreciate – such\nlittle touches of beauty.<\/p>\n\n

The next day, the little floral displays were different...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 60 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Perhaps they change them every day, or, perhaps weekly; I don't<\/span> know.\nHere's a close<\/span> up, from above, of the newer one, which includes bowed\nstrips of bamboo that also call to mind the New Year season, but in an\nunderstated way appropriate to the second week of the year...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 280 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHints of the Season<\/span>\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n\n\nStandard: 1024×<\/span>768<\/a>  ·  1440×<\/span>1080<\/a>  ·  1600×<\/span>1200<\/a><\/small>     <\/span>\nWidescreen:  1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

On the last day of our short trip, we stopped by\nShuri Castle<\/a>, the\nmain castle on Okinawa....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 60 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 2200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLight Snack<\/span>\nShuri Castle, Okinawa Japan\n<\/div>\n\n

It was almost completely destroyed in WWII's Battle of Okinawa<\/a>\n(along with a quarter<\/span> of the civilian population), but has been rebuilt\nover the years. Just two years ago, the small royal reception hall where\nprinces would meet visiting dignitaries was rebuilt, and is now a place<\/span>\nwhere visiting tourists can have a some<\/span> jasmine tea and assorted\nhistorically-accurate sweets in a quiet,<\/span> contemplative setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An important component of Japanese culture is \"presentation\", but it can quickly takes a backseat when inconvenient, such as how much of Japan's natural beauty has been disfigured by utility poles, wires, and street signs. (Examples on my blog over the years include: this - this - this - this - this - this.)<\/p>

So, it's especially nice when presentation is not only remembered, but really done well. The shot above was the after-meal coffee and cake that came with the $10 lunch we had at an out-of-the-way cafe during our trip to Okinawa last weekend.<\/p>

For $10, we got [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,2,22,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}