Guaranteed Benefits of Inconvenience

In 2017, I wrote a book with a very long title: Gomen nasai, moshi anata ga chotto demo ikizumari o kanjite iru nara, fuben o toriirete mite wa dō desu ka? Fuben’eki to iu hassō (The Idea of the Benefits of Inconvenience: If You’re Feeling that You’ve Reached a Dead End, Try Something Inconvenient). The president of Mishima, my book’s publisher, came up with the idea for the title. He felt that readers would get a better idea of the book’s essence from a long and inconvenient title rather than from something short and superficial. He wanted them to think, “Oh, that book about the benefits of inconvenience. I get it.”

I view that book as one for general readers. I wanted commuters to pick it up casually at a train station bookstore and read it on the way to work, to see for themselves that inconvenience is important or even essential in their workplaces. I also hoped they would recommend it to their older colleagues. The book gives several examples of existing items or practices that I call “guaranteed benefits of inconvenience,” to prepare readers to start thinking of things that may be inconvenient but beneficial.

For example, an operator of daycare services for seniors espouses a “with barriers” philosophy. Rather than its facilities being barrier-free for effortless daily living, they incorporate minor barriers, such as stairs. These barriers are also good training for the facilities’ staff, who learn how to watch over clients and only intervene when necessary. Another example is a Tokyo kindergarten’s outdoor play area with an uneven surface. The dips and bumps may cause children to stumble more, causing a few more scrapes and slowing them down. But they take this barrier in stride, playing energetically on a surface that’s closer to a natural field. These examples demonstrate that inconvenience can have benefits.

Inconvenience Makes Travel Memorable

My first book on the benefits of inconvenience, Fuben kara umareru dezain: Kōgaku ga ikasu jōshiki o koeta hassō (Design Born from Inconvenience: Engineering Off-the-wall Ideas), came out in 2011. In this book, I laid out a systematic approach to designing objects or processes that are inconvenient but beneficial to their users. It’s a difficult book that discusses the mechanisms through which inconvenience gives benefits. Let me give you an example. My hometown of Izumo, in Shimane Prefecture, is really off the beaten path. Izumo Taisha shrine, a favored spot for those seeking luck in love, is located there. Shimane can only be reached by overnight train from Tokyo, so the long trip builds anticipation. Therefore, the inconvenient location makes the trip much more memorable, and the possible benefit of finding a life partner all the more appreciated, than if the shrine were just an hour away.

Similar examples abound. One apocryphal explanation commonly shared in Japan says that the English words “travel” and “trouble” have the same etymology. I can say from personal experience that it’s often the case that minor troubles, or inconveniences, crop up during a trip. I’ve never owned a smartphone, and I don’t use one when I’m traveling on business either. This invariably means that I will encounter some problem along the way, for example, going back and forth along the same street trying to find my hotel in a city I’m visiting for the first time. It’s annoying, but on the other hand, I can still recall street names and the atmosphere of the place, thanks to the 5 or 10 minutes I spent looking for my hotel. I’ve followed my nose when I’m looking for a bar to go to by myself. I can usually find a good place that way, although I’ve had a few unfortunate experiences—which, again, I clearly remember. If I had a smartphone and just walked around following a map app or a customer review site, I would follow its suggestions. It’s inconvenient not to have those apps, but on the other hand, every mundane business trip turns into a journey.

I would finally mention Kyōto henjin kōza (Courses in Kyoto Eccentrics), published in 2019. This book is a compilation of public lectures launched in 2017 on the idea that at Kyoto University, being called an eccentric is a compliment. The benefits of inconvenience make their appearance in this book, too, which highlights that a culture encouraging the study of abstruse subjects like mine is alive and well at Kyoto University.

(Originally published in Japanese on July 10, 2019. Banner photo: Trashcan robots developed by Professor Okada Michio of the Toyohashi University of Technology. These inconvenient robots can yield insights into ideal robot-human communication. Photo © Kawamoto Seiya.)