Kenya Hara, the art director of Muji, spoke about their philosophy of “emptiness”. The concept of “emptiness” is a philosophy that is prevalent in designs throughout Japan. He gave a similar lecture at Google headquarters that you can watch here.

In a recent blog post on Core77, I commented on a misconception of the futon’s fold-away function. Contrary to the author’s point that it is good for “freeing up useable square footage in a space-tight country”, it’s actually a much more spiritual and philosophical reason. That notion is merely a benefit from the true meaning and original philosophy of a futon. It has nothing to do with the density of the population but the true reason for the fold-away function is so that you can create a “void”.

By creating a void, or an empty-space, it allows for limitless potential of reasons for the room’s existence. It could become a tea room, dinner room, bedroom, entertainment room… the empty room creates “potential” to be any room. Traditional rooms in Japan (which are becoming rare) often have nothing that is permanent, even the “walls” or fusuma, slide away to create a larger expansive empty-space. The people, wall, furniture, and artwork, enter and then leave the room, to return it to empty-space, full of potential. This philosophy can often be seen in many parts of the country, from objects to culture, to even an international company like Muji (“Mu” meaning “empty” or “absence” or “void” with a hint of “tranquility” and “potential”. That would be the closest translation in English. )

Next time you’re in Japan, look for things that you cannot see, the potential in the absence. It  might change the way you perceive everything around you in this American life.