Tatsushi Shimamoto
Director of Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living

Seeing the Unseen

Studying sei-katsu-sha involves understanding the changes taking place in society from fundamentally different perspectives. It requires that we try to comprehend the very reasoning behind the changes people exhibit in their daily life. It is like trying to identify constellations in the night sky; anyone can see the individual stars, but it takes novel perspectives to see swans and scorpions in the way stars are aligned. These new perspectives help us see things that would otherwise remain unseen, like human desires, aspirations and collective motivation.

Through research on sei-katsu-sha, we strive to challenge the conventional view on society based on readily available observations. This creativity comes from an inquisitive mind backed by learned skills.

The passion to acquire a previously unknown view of the world, and the analytical thinking to comprehensively present that view in front of the audience go hand in hand.

Our vision for the Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living is to use our passion and skills as researchers to challenge conventional wisdom, and thereby become indispensable to the understanding of social change.