Athlete Brains: Dai Tamesue's "Fluid Pacing" vol.14

A serial interview column where Mr. Dai Tamesue freely discusses "what's on his mind right now." The only set theme is "What is autonomy? What is tolerance?" Mr. Tamesue shares his thoughts on various "things on his mind" in response to the mysterious "interviewer's" unexpected prompts. Well now. What kind of stories will emerge this time...? Stay tuned.

──In the last two installments, we explored the theme "What is gratitude?" This time, we'll finally delve into "What are the truly grateful things for the modern era?" Experiencing the earthquake disaster and the COVID-19 pandemic, I think we're now deeply contemplating "What are the truly grateful things for life?"
Continuing from last time's discussion, it's about realizing that "things we took for granted aren't actually guaranteed at all, but are incredibly precious (arigatai)..."

Tamese: I mentioned that the essence of gratitude lies in scarcity, but I actually think it's not just about scarcity. To put it abstractly, it's about realizing "finiteness (transience)" and "uniqueness." In other words, this feeling of wonder isn't eternal, it's not something everyone can obtain, and it's something only I can experience right now, in this very moment.

──That is indeed something to be grateful for.

Tametsu: Put another way, I think people feel "gratitude" when shown something "irreplaceable to them." For example, watching athletes excel at the Olympics is certainly moving, but more than that, don't you get moved by videos of your son at his sports day? Honestly, I felt a heartfelt "Thank you!" towards the dad friend who filmed that video.

──It might have zero market value, but it definitely hits you hard.

Tamesue: Exactly. It's just a kid running and jumping around, after all (laughs). But for me, it's an irreplaceable "precious thing."

──I totally get that.

Tamesue: In my own work, the level of passion I put into jobs where I'm specifically asked, "We need Tamesue-san," versus jobs where I'm booked as "any athlete will do" is different. I think this applies not just to people with unique backgrounds like me, but to everyone's sense of identity or motivation in their work.

──You could say the same about brands, right?

Tamesue: "You're the only one who can do this" implies necessity. That necessity creates value. Plus, I think old-school innovation valued anything that made things "easier (gentler)." Washing clothes without a washboard? Heating bathwater without splitting firewood? Ah, how grateful we were.

──We're still caught up in that value system where convenience equals gratitude, aren't we?

Tamesue: But I feel that sense of gratitude is fading. When photocopiers and fax machines came out, we thought, "Oh, thank goodness!" But when they talk about "how many megabytes, how many gigabytes of capacity!"? Honestly, I don't feel that sense of gratitude anymore.

──I understand, I understand.

Tamesue: That's why those providing products and services—and I'm one of them as a business owner—need to get better at "explaining." Explaining that this is something irreplaceable for your life. Something that's "grateful" for everyone doesn't come along that often. That's precisely why being told "this is something grateful for you" really hits home.

──Idols are like that too, right? It's clearly different from the era when every woman in the world had the same "someone-chan" haircut (laughs).

Tametsu: There's an interesting story. When a Japanese publisher approached Hermès headquarters proposing to create a manga about Hermès, they were told, "That's fine, but we have one question. Can the manga artist ride a horse?"

──Ah, that's a story that really hits home.

Tamesue: I think the essence of a brand is "passion." They were asking: Does this manga artist truly love Hermès as a maker of horse tack?

──Thank you again for sharing so many valuable insights this time.

Tamesue: Thank you very much. It was a pleasure.

(Interviewer: Web Dentsu Inc. Editorial Department)

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From Hibi, Athlete Brains Production Team

It began with gratitude and culminated in brand. The essence of a brand is "passion." It is precisely because of this passion that it results in rarity, leading to finiteness and ephemerality. Furthermore, articulating that unwavering passion clearly and embodying it properly. I believe that is how a brand is built. What we truly value and are passionate about is often difficult to express in a single phrase. That's precisely why we want to help companies address their challenges by drawing out that passion through dialogue with athletes, then using creative power to articulate and visualize it.

Athlete Brains Production Team Dentsu Inc. / Akinori Hibi (3CRP) · Kohei Shiraishi (Business Co-creation Bureau)

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"Athlete Brains," led by Dai Tamesue.
For details on this team that connects the knowledge cultivated by athletes to solving challenges in the world (for companies and society), click here.