Random Talks

Raised in Africa and schooled in the UK and the U.S., Anthony Willoughby was 22 when he bought a one-way ticket on the Trans-Siberian Express to Japan

Are we living in the era of the bold eccentric, the realm of the unfettered visionary? Masaki Takeuchi thinks so, and he should know: he’s the man in

Hans Reitz shares a vision with 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus: a planet utterly without poverty. In 2008, the two established t

Before becoming TED’s licensing director in 2007, Lara Stein was deeply involved in broadband entertainment programming, animation and interacti

An early advocate of mobile video and established expert in the field of digital media, Sandeep Casi worked for large corporations for the best part o

Bill Werlin was born in Colorado mountain territory and grew up working at his family’s ski area, surrounded by the majestic Rockies and untainted ski

Suppleness and steely toughness—two seemingly incompatible attributes—describe a supermaterial many have dreamed of. Now Kazuhide Sekiyama and Spiber

Nana Watanabe has a wide-angle lens on life. As a photographer, she has shot for iconic brands like Shiseido, Sony Music and Paris Vogue, and also exh

A mysterious person who caused a sensation on Twitter with a parody bot account of the nationally recognized character. With philosophical remarks and

You see Taku Satoh’s design handiwork virtually every shopping day, wrapping consumables like Calpis drinks, Lotte gum and S&B black pepper. But

Some geniuses really know how to have fun. Take Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Revered for conjuring up gaming masterpieces like Sega Rally Championship, Space Ch

Blind football is a universal sport that was originally conceived for the visually impaired, but can be taken part in by anyone through the use of an

Batteries made from wood. Stone transformed into paper. Coffee turned in biochemicals to absorb odors and protect our skin from UV rays. Bioplastics a

Everyone poops. The problem, says John Kluge, is that 2.5 billion of us have no clean place to go, and that lack is generating massive troubles with g

The man responsible for developing Bandai Co., Ltd.’s wildly popular capsule toys, Shimpei Takahashi, is in love with the idea of ideas. His most nota

Jesper Koll calls himself a professional Japan optimist, but that doesn’t prevent him from speaking constructive truths to power. An advisor to a broa