Everything has a purpose or "the purpose"

     Exposure to a different set of classes here in Keio School of Media design has and still is shaping my thinking. I now ask myself more questions "why" and "what is the reason for that".

     It has been almost two months living in Japan. Time is just flying by! The more I look around and think, the more I discover. Many things that seemed strange in the beginning now seem to have logic behind them. Not all, but a lot more, that 2 months ago during those first days. 

     A few things are now clear. One of those I wanted to write about is umbrellas, just like this one: 

     Majority of Japanese people carry those around on a rainy day or when it is expected to rain in the morning. It is hard to find statistics, but it seems like 90% of Japanese have long umbrellas rather than short portable ones. I have asked my Japanese friends a few times about this issue but didn't have a proper answer. I never attempted to search for an answer in the Internet - but no luck. Finally I found a person who was able to figure out the logic. Satoru-san, our professor at KMD, has said that long umbrellas are stronger. It rains heavily during rainy season with very strong wing, thus umbrellas need to handle severe weather conditions. This actually makes sense. =) But why are most umbrellas are white and transparent? Satoru-san has come up with an assumption, that the material they are made of is the cheapest one. Which is also a strong assumption. 

       Overall in Tokyo situation with umbrellas is very interesting. You can buy umbrella for less than a euro and it will last. Many organizations and places have umbrellas in a special basket near the door, so people can simply use it. Some people leave their umbrellas in such boxes near a supermarket for others to use on a rainy day. When entering a building, you can often leave your umbrella at a special umbrella stand. Sometimes near entrances to offices and supermarkets you can find a machine where you insert your umbrella and it covers it with plastic (puts it in plastic bag) so that you don't spread water everywhere. Near entrances to some electronics stores you can find people giving you a plastic bag to put your umbrella while visiting a store.