In this series, “Understanding the Fluctuations of the Mind,” Jun Adachi, CEO of MENTAGRAPH, engages in dialogue and interviews with experts from various fields to explore what it means to confront and understand the human mind.
The guest for this first installment is product designer Naoto Fukasawa. Since the earliest conceptual stages of MENTAGRAPH, Fukasawa has participated in shaping its philosophy. Through his studio, NAOTO FUKASAWA DESIGN, he also designed the smart ring device “Mentoring 2.”
In the first part, Fukasawa explored the concept of “hari” — a uniquely nuanced Japanese notion related to tension, balance, and vitality. In this middle installment, the conversation continues as the two discuss how we should relate to stress in daily life and why understanding one’s own mind is inherently difficult.
Naoto Fukasawa × Jun Adachi in Conversation Designing to “Describe the Mind” and the Concept of “Hari” [Part 1]
At Mr. Fukasawa's studio. On the right is Naoto Fukasawa, on the left is Jun Adachi, CEO of MENTAGRAPH.
Profile
Naoto Fukasawa (Product Designer)
Representative of NAOTO FUKASAWA DESIGN, Director of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum, and Vice President of Tama Art University. He is widely known for designing products that harmonize with people’s unconscious behaviors, including MUJI’s wall-mounted CD player and au’s INFOBAR mobile phone. Recipient of numerous awards including the Isamu Noguchi Award and the iF Design Award Gold Award.
Jun Adachi (CEO of MENTAGRAPH Inc. / Director of D-LAB, Japan Tobacco Inc.)
At D-LAB, the corporate R&D organization of the JT Group, Adachi has led the planning and development of new businesses and founded MENTAGRAPH Inc. Previously, he worked at a UX consulting firm before joining Japan Tobacco Inc. in 2018.
⚫︎The Dual Nature and Role of Stress
— In the quiet atmosphere of Fukasawa’s atelier, the conversation begins by reconsidering the meaning of “stress.” Stress is often treated as something people should avoid or reduce, but could it also be viewed from another perspective? Adachi opens the discussion with this question.
Adachi:
The MENTAGRAPH project originally began as an attempt to address negative conditions centered around stress. However, when we spoke with experts in neuroscience, they told us that stress does not only have negative aspects — it can also play a positive role.
In reality, there are people who achieve outstanding performance precisely because of pressure, and there are environments where a certain degree of tension is essential for survival. In other words, stress has a dual nature. We realized that it is extremely important to visualize not only the pressure coming from the outside world, but also the force within us that pushes back against it.
Adachi reflecting on how he came to recognize the dual nature of stress.
Fukasawa:
The word “stress” carries negative connotations, but literally speaking, it simply means “pressure.” In the world of athletics, for example, some say that in the 100-meter sprint, unless a runner trembles with nervous tension before the race, they cannot become number one. People overcome pressure by generating within themselves the force to push back against it. Especially in today’s world, having no pressure at all — having nothing to do and too much idle time — can create the painful feeling of being forgotten or sidelined. Ironically, that can itself become a source of suffering and anxiety.
⚫︎The Difficulty of Objectively Understanding Ourselves
— The conversation shifts toward the question of how people perceive their own mental states. Many believe that “they know themselves better than anyone else,” but Adachi challenges that assumption itself.
Adachi:
Through confronting the “fluctuations of the mind,” we eventually arrived at a fundamental realization: in the end, people do not truly understand the state of their own minds. By the time we notice fatigue or stress, our minds are often already at their limit. What we most need to confront is the arrogance behind the belief that “I know myself best” — the danger of assuming we fully understand ourselves.
Fukasawa:
I agree. In design as well, if you cannot perceive the “tension” or “counterbalancing forces” within a space, everything gradually loses coherence and falls into chaos.We exist within an invisible network of sensations and forces, and the challenge lies in maintaining balance within it.
⚫︎How Normative Consciousness Obscures the Mind
— The dialogue moves even further inward. Why do people lose sight of their own condition? Adachi introduces the concept of “normative consciousness.”
Adachi:
I believe one reason people lose sight of their mental state is what I would call “normative consciousness.” Rather than listening to what we truly want, we become trapped between rules and expectations — the feeling that “I have to do this.”Because people are earnest and conscientious, they internalize these pressures so deeply that they ignore the SOS signals coming from their own bodies.
Fukasawa:
One possible response to excessive information and external pressure is the idea of “active indifference.” I wrote about this in my book DESIGN SCIENCE_01, inspired by a conversation with novelist Keiichiro Hirano. “Pretending not to care” may sound negative, but the idea is to consciously choose a certain degree of detachment. People suffer because they cannot process external pressure internally, and instead seek to be controlled by external rules.If we can simply recognize that “the mind naturally fluctuates,” I believe we could live more flexibly and resiliently.
Fukasawa discussing the concept of “active indifference” as a way to live with greater flexibility.
Adachi:
So in other words, we do not necessarily have to confront everything head-on.
⚫︎The Flexibility of Mind Created Through Hesitation
— At this point, Fukasawa begins speaking about a memory of a video he once saw. In it, “hesitation” appeared not as indecisiveness, but as the recovery of humanity itself.
Fukasawa:
I once watched rehabilitation footage of a woman who had suffered brain damage. She was given the task of making coffee, and at first she simply followed the nurse’s instructions mechanically, pouring instant coffee into a cup exactly as she was told.But after several months of rehabilitation, she began to hesitate. She started wondering, “Should I use the spoon? Or should I pour directly from the cup?” That hesitation itself marked the return of her humanity.At that moment, her facial expression changed completely. She looked profoundly human again — and incredibly beautiful.
Adachi:
So pausing, questioning one’s own state, and allowing oneself to hesitate — those things become clues for recovering the flexibility of the mind.
⚫︎Accepting Fluctuation
People naturally seek a life free from stress and answers free from uncertainty. Yet within moderate pressure, and within the act of pausing and hesitating, there is also a deeply human kind of beauty.
Rather than denying the fluctuations of the mind, perhaps we must first learn to accept them as they are. In the next installment, the dialogue will continue as the two explore what kinds of devices might help people better engage with their own minds.
Related Articles
Naoto Fukasawa × Jun Adachi in Conversation Designing to “Describe the Mind” and the Concept of “Hari” [Part 1]Eliminating the Noise of the Brain and Listening to the Voice of the Body — Rethinking the Relationship Between Mind and Devices [Part 3] 
