Thoughts On Pure Living In Tokyo

In preparation for Tuesday night’s Good Ideas Salon in Tokyo that PSFK is putting on in collaboration with Nissan, I’ve been gathering images of ‘Pure Living’ in Japan. By Pure Living we are talking about a whole range of issues – from sustainability to considered consumption to energy to transport and urban planning.

Japan seems to offer a paradox – on one side there are plenty examples of Japan doing the green thing: probably driven by traditional, geographic and historic reasons there already is an environmental consciousness. On the other side the consumer culture combined by a perception to be modern creates a lot of waste.

Here are some images I’ve been taking over the last couple of days.

The first pic is from where I found coffee at 5am – McDonalds. Recycling encouraged right down to the stirrer.

Here, an electric bike touts it’s green-ness which used to be fine – but the Pure Living conversation now looks at the materials that made that bike and what happens to the battery after the bike is discarded.

Here we see the example of maximizing space. On his great blog about environmentalism in Japan, Jared Braiterman talks a lot about the environmental impact of ‘dead space‘ and how unused space could be considered an environmental and social problem.

And here, a sliver of land is ‘maximized’ with a thin apartment block.

Meanwhile, there’s a lot of examples of energy waste. Vending machines are lit up day and night. These vending machines are just one element of the huge consumption culture that seems to be going on in Tokyo.

And floors and floors of buildings are lit up brightly at night – most probably without LED lighting.

And just to make it personal – why does my toilet need electricity to run it? Why is the seat pre-warmed? It feels rather selfish to use energy for such petty needs.

Anyway, some simple observations as I prepare. For those of you who managed to get a ticket (event sold out), I look forward to seeing you tonight to discuss this idea of Pure Living in greater detail.