no. 97: tokyo, AI jobs, echo effect, poetry, moms, moodboard, tea
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We walked down a path in the Shinjuku ward. Smiling people sat on picnic blankets under trees with barren branches. The sakura bloom was delayed but hanami blossom viewing parties went on.
I noticed the first buds Saturday morning near the Imperial Gardens when the city streets were still empty.
Before and after meetings and scheduled activities I explored, wandering for miles but seeing just a glimpse of sprawling Tokyo. The 90+ vendors in the Tsukiji outer market, Ramen Street in Tokyo Station, the outskirts of Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, the streets of Ginza, and Tokyo tower lit up at night.
I got up before sunrise on our last day to visit Meiji Shrine. Less than a mile from the infamously busy Shibuya crossing, the sidewalks of the 100,000 tree forest were empty. The canopy overhead held me in the moment. I put my phone down and followed signs. The early morning walk, each conversation, cup of tea and the early morning walks all felt ephemeral. Important. Ichi-go ichi-e: for this time only.
As we went wheels up, the 5yo in the row in front of me waved and talked out the window:
Bye bye Hello Kitty
Bye bye Tokyo
Bye bye Japan
You were super, super fun
What I read this week
🤖 plentiful, high paying jobs in the age of AI - Noah Smith,
Everyone — every single person, every single AI, everyone — always has a comparative advantage at something! Each worker ends up doing the thing they’re best at relative to the other things they could be doing, rather than the thing they’re best at relative to other people.
💡 distribute ideas, not content - Mark Rogers, Freshpaint + Animalz
When your central idea resonates, it echoes back to you from the market in the form of customers mentioning it unprompted, industry leaders referencing it, and even competitors trying to co-opt it.
🌊 life lesson in poetry - Tucker Bryant
Poetry isn’t about being some eccentric, artsy person or having this innate linguistic genius. Writing poetry is just about slowing down for long enough to notice how we see and feel about the world around us and trying to capture a small piece of that experience in words.
🎨 an ode to working mothers - Maria Li, Tech in Asia
My sense is that once women have kids, the decision calculus changes in a way that it doesn’t for fathers. In general, one’s time becomes more precious. Then, the expectations for one’s job increases in order to compensate for that trade-off in time.
💡 moodboard - Sari Azout,
The world would be better if there were more software companies focused on quality, craftsmanship and longevity.
💛 the book of tea - Okakura Kakuzō
Teasism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence…those who cannot feel the littleness of great things in themselves are apt to overlook the greatness of little things in others.
📊 striking findings from 2023 - Pew Research
I see you, I love you, ichi-go ichi-e,
H