"Make the purchasing process exciting"

──Please tell us about the virtual world that was mentioned in the previous interview. Right now, I feel like e-commerce and virtual reality aren't merging very well, but I think the future where they do will be closer.

That's exactly right, and in the near future, the physical experience may also become digital, but I think the role will be different. At the moment, it's easier to expand the worldview in the digital space, but the physical experience can only be experienced by going to a store.

Basically, digital services are becoming more convenient in many ways. However, if we just make the purchasing experience available in stores uniform, it becomes digital transformation, so we want to make it more fulfilling and the purchasing process more exciting.

──This year, due to the impact of COVID-19, everyone has started to focus on this kind of world, and I think it has been a year that has made us feel that virtual reality has the power to help us overcome the barriers we face.

That's exactly right. We want to make that our main battlefield, so there's no reason why we shouldn't be the first to do it. Even if the product is good, if people can't experience the brand in the process of purchasing it, I don't think they'll get a sense of J Eyewear Lab. Having a venue is very important, but I think it's also important to use that venue as a hub and connect it to the digital world.

"I wonder if culture is something that can only be named in retrospect."

──Technology isn't seen as a method, but as a culture. What will be born when it's mixed with real places and fashion? I feel like the activity itself, including the collaboration with many people, will become the final product.

That's exactly right, and I think this shop is part of that activity. In fact, I've had these discussions with (Eiichi) Izumi, and we've been working on various projects while sharing the same vision, and this shop is one of them. I think culture is something that's given a name when you look back on it later, rather than something that happens in the middle of doing it. I don't think the people who do it are even consciously thinking, "This is this culture." My ideal would be to leave an archive so that later on, you can look back and say, "Oh, that was what it was all about."

I think it's very difficult to give a name to something that is about to begin. Various dots will line up in some way. In order for that to happen, I think we won't move forward from the current era unless we set out to do something. It's often said that "fashion repeats the times," but I think we're approaching a phase where we need to take a step forward, and although we didn't preach this, I think there are more and more people who feel the same way and are spreading their message. I feel that in order to set something in motion, we need a lot of output like this.

──Hearing Nakaya's story makes me want to visit the store more often.

Please come and visit! Until now, we've been located in a fashion building, so it's inevitably become a place for business. But with this store, I want to take advantage of the fact that it's a street-front store and make it a place that connects people, not just for business purposes. There's a lot of freedom, so we can do a lot of things, for example, we could use it in a different way than previous stores. Until now, there have been barriers to doing things, but I think that will disappear with a street-front store. My ideal would be for this to become a place where everyone can connect with each other.

Interview: Shuhei Matsuyama