D2. Reflection Tatoo

Target to regenerate

Value criteria that prioritize time performance and cost performance

Reason

Time and cost performance are ultra short-term mindsets. They contradict the long-term thinking required to solve major societal challenges.

The Transition of Japanese Values

Past : Community Firs

The “family” system as an economic community prioritized family and community interests over individuals, and emphasized long-term relationship maintenance and community stability over efficiency and least-cost outcomes.

Present : Economic rationality First

People are dependent on things that can be measured numerically, such as money, time, and likes. Time-performance/cost-performance has a significant impact on daily decision making because immediate results are easy to see and short-term satisfaction and success are easy to achieve.

Signs : Restoration of Connection

There is a movement away from “ownership and individualism” toward “sharing, a sense of community, and sustainable connections. These signs can be seen as an attempt to explore new forms of human relationships and the nature of society.

New Worldviews : Empathy and appreciation for others

In a world where a gift economy with resonance and appreciation coexists with capitalism, everything is smoothly connected, and people are thinking broadly and long term, not just in terms of individual time performance cost-effectiveness.

The Transition of Japanese Values - Dealing with others

Past : Community First - Irrational harmony

In rural society, the family and community functioned as the unit of life, and communal harmony was emphasized. While irrational, there were no values of winning or losing among individuals.

Present : Economic rationality First - Rational competition

When industrial and economic development leads to the supremacy of rationality (cost- and time-performance orientation), people become dependent on the numerical goal of profit and engage in selfish competition.

Signs : Restoration of Connection - Doubts about rationality

In the uncertain VUCA era, the absolutism of rationality supremacy begins to waver. We began to realize the importance of accepting existence other than our own in an ambiguous way and continuing to ponder.

New Worldviews : Empathy and appreciation for others - Facing the Unknowable

Nature, society, and human beings are in a constant state of change. There is a world out there where we can face, empathize with, and appreciate the ambiguity of our own and other beings from a long-term perspective.

Caption-1 Reflection Tatoo

In the past, the world was divided by competition. Excessive capitalism has damaged the earth, dictatorships have started wars, and the internet has become a place where faceless people fight for the same principles. People are disconnected from each other and from the rest of the world, and the future is uncertain. There was no ray of hope to be found anywhere.

The “Reflection Tatoo,” born in 2054, changed this dark era. Mysterious patterns suddenly appeared on people's skin. They were mirrors that reflected emotions and the environment that surrounded them - the changes that occurred at that moment - and they were words that spoke of themselves. There are no fixed rules for these patterns. It is indecipherable, yet it speaks the truth beautifully.

Caption-2 When Comparison and Competition End

One day, people staring at the patterns on their skin realized that “change is identity. Change is identity. And accepting what we don't understand is the beginning of a new world.Reflection Tatoo went beyond the boundaries of people. When you touch a plant, the rustling of its leaves becomes a pattern; when you are near an animal, its emotions flow into your skin. For the first time, people knew the feeling of being one with the earth, of the boundaries between the ecosystem and themselves dissolving into each other.

A world filled with uncertainty was once feared. However, those who chose to wear the change, continued to dialogue with each other, and sought a way to coexist with others. Rationality and capitalism, which were based on comparison and competition, have become a thing of the past.

Caption-3 Facing the Unknowable

Reflection Tatoo depicts a story that transcends the limits of knowledge and technology. The world has finally begun to remember the simple truth that nothing is absolute.

How far can we, in this day and age, go into the vast world of “not knowing”? Reflection Tatoo asks us: How far can we go in the vast world of “not knowing? Are you ready to accept the change?