Azuma Ito x MINOTAUR INST. "Tradition is not just about inheriting what you received from your parents' generation"
Azuma Ito x MINOTAUR INST. "Having a technology that can be used anywhere is a huge thing for me."

"Clothes are like a statement of one's attitude towards life."

Matsuyama (MINOTAUR INST. collaboration creator): You've always loved fashion, haven't you, Azuma Ryo? I'd like to ask you what it is about fashion that attracted you to it and how you perceive it.

Azuma Ryo: I was born and raised in Gion, a Gion local. Even in elementary and middle school, fast runners and funny people were popular, but in Gion, people with a strong sense of fashion were also popular, and everyone was very fashion-conscious from a young age. Especially in high school and college, it seemed like most of my part-time job earnings were spent on fashion. It was like working hard at my part-time job so I could buy that outfit. Also, with fashion, you make a choice every day, like, "What should I wear today?" I think that's an amazing choice. For example, you could choose to "always wear black T-shirts," or you could choose to "wear different clothes every day."

Izumi (MINOTAUR INST. Designer): That's right.

It seems that the people of Toryo Kyoto had a culture of "wearing good clothes even if it means eating mist" and "putting up with simple food so that I can wear a kimono." When we were kids, everyone around us was fashion-conscious, but around 2010, it seemed like people in Kyoto were just like, "As long as I wear this, it's fine," and they had lost interest in fashion. I used to have the image that everyone had their own unique preferences in relation to the worldview created by magazines, but I felt a sense of loneliness when that disappeared. However, it wasn't just the people around me; when I realized that I too was gradually losing my sense of expression through clothing, I came to a crossroads within myself.

As a Toryo monk, I stopped wearing clothes that expressed myself and started wearing only the prescribed clothing as a uniform. Another reason was that, because it's a choice you make every morning in your life, if you couldn't express yourself, it would ultimately have a huge unconscious impact on various activities. So at one point, I decided that I didn't mind being thought of as a strange monk, but that I would express myself in a way that was appropriate for the time and place, while still maintaining my dignity. Luckily, my wife supported me and would tell me when something was wrong with the clothes I was wearing. After all, fashion is a daily choice for me and the first step in self-expression, so I still believe that I never want to cut corners on it.

Matsuyama : That's cool. You said that fashion is a form of self-expression, but is there a core element to your expression?

Azuma Ryo: First of all, at my age, I've started to place a lot of importance on being able to have confidence in myself. In the past, I would often wear Italian clothes because I heard that this was popular in Italy, or because it would make me look Italian. But now, all of that has disappeared, and I'm more concerned with whether something suits me or whether it will give me confidence. It's hard to put into words, but I've recently found that line. However, even when I was younger, wearing Italian clothes might make me look sophisticated, but they didn't suit me perfectly, so I felt a bit embarrassed and wondered if it was really okay. But now, the most important thing is to feel that I'm 360 degrees myself. Within that, I still want to incorporate the sensibilities of the times.

Izumi: I agree.

Azuma Ryo: I've always had a hard time with the idea of ​​being a boy or a girl, and I even wore androgynous fashion in college. In an age where interest in social issues is growing, I'm always thinking that I could take that a step further and aim for surprise in a good way. I think that clothes are a kind of expression of one's attitude towards life, so if I wear masculine clothes and show off my muscles, it's an attitude of "I want you to look at this part of me," and if I wear soft, androgynous clothes, it's a self-expression that says, "This is the way I want to live," so I think it's close to that kind of expression.

Matsuyama : If what you just said is a statement, then choosing something means searching for yourself, confronting yourself. I don't think you can find that in anything else, so there is meaning in expressing yourself through fashion.

Azuma Ryo: I'd like them all to be connected in my mind. For example, if someone says, "I don't eat meat," but wears a leather jacket, I'd think, "That must be a lie." That's why I think clothes express who a person is.

Matsuyama: I was reminded that fashion is a way for you to reassess how you are, how you are seen, and how you define yourself every day.

Azuma Ryo: It's not just about fashion; we now have more freedom than ever to choose what we eat and where we live, and the economic systems and working styles that support this are also changing. Living in a new, freer era is actually about finding answers to questions and statements from our past selves. I think that being able to see that what you say and what you do are in line is a perspective that provides a huge support, like a reason to live. So I thought it would be great if we could confirm this again today, and if more people could adopt this perspective.