niime 百科

Encyclopedia of niime

This time our topic is “play”. Tamaki and Sakai see their work as a form of exciting play, as they call “niime’s play theory”. They began to talk about vivid memories of games in their childhood and then investigated frankly what “play” is.

Sakai

Playing is the ultimate thing that we want to do. Nowadays people consider things so logically. When we were kids, playing was more three dimensional.

Tamaki

You cannot use your imagination if you could immediately find the answers. It is more important to allow your mind to work to inspire you.

Sakai

I think everyone comes up with the concepts they had when they played during their childhood when you really think about what playing was.

– Indeed.

Sakai

Playing in your childhood and adulthood are different, aren’t they?

– What are the differences?

Sakai

When we were elementary school kids, we went out to play and it was nothing extraordinary. We could enjoy anything, right? But as we get older, we can’t do that anymore.

– Because we need something with a deeper meaning, right?

Sakai

That’s right. That is……

Tamaki

It connects to what we talked about yesterday. For instance, when you want to hike as your hobby, you often start by getting your hiking outfits, don’t you? If you’re going hike, you simply need to start walking toward a mountain, but for adults, we tend to start shopping for outfits or collecting goods.

Sakai

We try to start with trying to look good.

– Oh, I see.

Tamaki

Children just use the things around them and have fun.

Sakai

Yeah

– That’s true

Tamaki

Tamaki: If there are just natural objects there, they try what they try to do what they can with them then and there.

Sakai

When I was a little kid, there was a big river nearby. I went there to pick up tree branch scraps with friends and built something like a pit house. That was a fun memory.

– Did you come up with those ideas all of a sudden?

Sakai

Yeah, all the sudden. We didn’t even try hard. We simply collected wood scraps and played with them, then made it! Just like that.

– There was no specific goal. You just happened to make it while you were playing, with them, right?

Sakai

But, as you grow up, you don’t do it without planning such as workshops. Without specific plans, you don’t do it, do you?

– You kind of need to organize it?

Sakai

Yeah…

Tamaki

Grown-ups don’t or can’t do something without planning. That means ‘tamaki niime’ should not have a plan.

Sakai

For me, my work itself is play. Actually, all my work is fun.

Tamaki

Same here. I think farming works are ‘playing’.

– There is no definition of what farmers should do. They can do anything…

Tamaki

There are a hundred ways, aren’t they?

Sakai

I wonder why we can’t enjoy that kind of thing as you grow up.

Tamaki

I think we want a reason for playing. We overthink about meanings and goals.

Sakai

For example, part-time-workers get jobs to make money. Even full-time-workers do their jobs for salaries and bonuses.

Tamaki

We always do something for specific reasons. Even in playing, we go skiing for improving skills. The purpose is to get skills not to enjoy playing. The main reason is not for enjoyment.

Sakai

Playing is what we want to do the most. When we want to do something, we don’t do what we don’t want to do, however, for me, my work is playtime. I don’t do what I don’t want to do. I just do the things what I think it is fun. In my policy, “play” has to be fun either at your work or at your personal times. You should have fun just like when you’re enjoying playing games.

Tamaki

Kids play to kill time in their childhood. On the way home, they want to enjoy their time. Like, “What do you wanna do today?”

Sakai

As you get older, you would consider to choose about “play” when you have time to spend. But children wouldn’t think of such ideas. They just do whatever they want.

Tamaki

They don’t factor that in.

Sakai

No. Absolutely not.

Tamaki

Why do we make such calculations?

Sakai

Children just enjoy playing purely. There is no rules for enjoying.

– They don’t ask for results.

Sakai

Yes.

Tamaki

Isn’t it important to just think that you want to do something fun? You don’t have to do it, or it is ok to do it or not to do it. However, basically it is essential to have an idea to think up what to do even while you have nothing to play with.

– You have to be creative.

Tamaki

Exactly!

Sakai

We used to learn from nature. We improvised our play from the natural materials around us. For instance, we found the river to dive into and tried it. Today, we worried about being stung by insects. Uselessly, we guard ourselves.

– There are too many prohibited matters.

Sakai

Yeah, we are too logical. Children in olden times, they were more three dimensional, I mean indepth, more flexible to see and do it. Today, we are more simple or two dimensional. We tend to follow manuals and instructions. When we were kids, we did exciting things one after another, there was no time to be bored.

Tamaki

Were we so inspired more?

Sakai

Exactly. We had ideas here and there and played naturally. And at the end of the day, they say, “Oh, we had so much fun, bye!”

Tamaki

It was not a big deal for them, like “Ok, see you tomorrow, guys!”

Sakai

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tamaki

I understand that feeling.

Sakai

There are no reasons behind. It is more frankness. From the sight of adults, they don’t understand what kids are doing.

Tamaki

Is that we put too much information as we get older?

Sakai

I guess so.

Tamaki

Indeed.

Sakai

That’s why kids don’t have any bias and are so pure in their meaning. I think it is funtastic that kids can focus on playing.

Tamaki

For me, I think running ‘tamaki niime’ is one of my ways to “play”.

Sakai

Of course!

Tamaki

When we were creating shawls, of course, it was important to make money, however, more than that, we were so invested in playing with looms.

Sakai

Yeah, but now we consider a lot.

Tamaki

Even so, we enjoy it. You know, when you were a child, were you planning to make a secret base? Is putting a window here cute or exciting?

Sakai

There was no such concept if it was interesting or not? The products kids made while in childhood were awesome because they had no explanation of details or forms, they just created it as they wished, and it turned out to be so great.

Tamaki

They guided by intuition,right?

Sakai

They shouted, “Yeah! Wow! We made it!”

Tamaki

…….

Sakai

Nowadays, people consider and calculate here and there. I am not an exception. Even we claim this is our play, our products go out to the world.

Tamaki

The products go out or not is the reason why we have to consider so much.

Sakai

When we were kids, we did crazy things.

Tamaki

Because we were so ignorant.

Sakai

That’s why I think children just indulge in playing are incredible.

———(laugh)

Sakai

Honestly, I think today’s children are not excited.

Tamaki

They can do things quickly. They can get information so readily. For cooking, we could check recipes on the web, and see how to make it on YouTube. They can see the finished products before we try to make it.

– There are no challenges.

Tamaki

Because we can get answers so easily, that’s why we don’t have to have imaginary thoughts. It is too easy to live.

Sakai

When we were small, how we played was like zero to one, however, Once we grew up, it is like one to two or two to three. Maybe like coordination.

Tamaki

It is the only combination.

Sakai

Absolutely! Especially since we have too much information now.

Tamaki

There is too much information we don’t need to know.

Sakai

When we were kids, things start from zero and go to one.

Tamaki

We even didn’t have cell phones yet. We have too much information just from books. I think that difference is so big. Because of less information, we could try to seek it out. We had to think of ideas of how to do better at just throwing stones. It’s silly, isn’t it?

– But kids had so much fun.

Sakai

Yeah, they enjoyed so much, finding many ways of doing and seeking the ways sincerely. Their brains were active, but today we just check it on the web, and that’s it.

Sakai

We need to play seriously.

Tamaki

Yeah, we need to throw away cell phones.

– continued –

The second talk ended after passing the 20-minutes. Their discussion about “play” didn’t wrap up with a definite conclusion, but we will continue to passionately discuss the topic. How would this discussion continue next? Please look forward to reading the next instalment.

Original Japanese text by Seiji Koshikawa.
English translation by Adam & Michiko Whipple.