Andrew

What is a ritual, practice, or routine in your life that is important for your psychological wellbeing and/or fulfillment? Why?

Daisuke

I think my fulfillment in life comes from satisfying my curiosity. It drives my existence, and without it, nothing would interest or fulfill me. What I do to complete that is actually teamLab itself. It's curiosity incarnate, with everything moving based on curiosity to make things happen or create something new.

It's not just about individual curiosity, but being in a team where we believe that collective curiosity is the driving force. We believe that something amazing can happen when different specialties come together. For me, being in this environment at teamLab is the most important thing in my life. It makes my life fulfilled and interesting.

Andrew

What is a human-made creation that brings out the best in you? Why?

Daisuke

Everything is connected. Nothing can exist by itself in this world. Even though we're talking about human-made things, we are part of nature, and everything is part of something larger.

What inspires me is this connection between things that are related, whether human-made or natural. It doesn't matter if it's human nature or nature itself; it's the connection between everything that interests me. I believe that looking into these connections is fascinating.

Even in human-made creations, there's a connection to something in nature or to our historical accumulation of human knowledge. It's this complex web of connections that I find most interesting.

When I'm aware of these connections, it makes me happy. It gives me a sense that there's a reason for existence in this world. Cherishing that existence itself and feeling the harmony of an interconnected world is inspiring. It's not about feeling alone, but about being part of something larger.

Nothing can exist by itself in this world.

Andrew

When do you cherish the slow or hard way of doing something? Why?

Daisuke

At teamLab, efficiency is very important. But as you mentioned in the intro, nothing significant happens in the world without some inefficiency or friction.

Every day, we develop our artworks in a very straightforward manner, not going all the way around but directly towards what we want to do. This approach creates a lot of friction and requires significant effort. We invest a lot of our energy into these processes daily.

While AI and other technologies can make life easier, there are things you need to experience and struggle with yourself. The resolution of understanding becomes much higher when you engage directly with a challenge. You get more information, more feedback if you do it in a hands-on way.

Of course, there are many things that should be made efficient through technology, and I agree with that. But there are also things you have to think about and do yourself, things where it's important to struggle and get feedback. The results from this effortful approach will be of a higher quality than before.

Andrew

What is something you appreciate or long for from the past? Why?

Daisuke

At teamLab, we prefer everyone to come to the office. I've banned remote work; everyone must come to the office to make things. It might seem inefficient, but I think it's much more effective in terms of all the things you can achieve.

We are social animals, and that's what made us human. Gathering with people, having conversations, sharing ideas with others - these activities spark new ideas and connections, and motivate people to go beyond. These chains of curiosity make us human.

What I do is meet people and bring people together in a place where we can just hang out, talk, and do things. That makes me happy. It might seem old school, but I think it's something very precious and important in my life.

There's more information, more chance of making connections when we're physically together. It's efficient and useful to work remotely, but there are better things that come from in-person interaction. That's how we do it at teamLab - meeting people and creating those connections. I think that's the way forward.