For the past days I have been thinking about writing about the Toraberazunoto, but couldn't find the right words to start... how can I describe why I like a product that is really that simple?
Really short, objective description : a rectangular piece of leather (brown or black) with one horizontal elastic on the outside to close it and one vertical inside to hold the inserts.
Not very exciting, is it?
To be able to really make it justice, I will have to step back and with the help of the wikipedia, try to explain the basic concept of the Toraberazunoto.
Shibui (渋い) (adjective), shibumi (渋み) (noun), or shibusa (渋さ) (noun) are Japanese words which refer to a particular aesthetic of simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty.
Shibusa is an enriched, subdued appearance or experience of intrinsically fine quality with economy of form, line, and effort, producing a timeless tranquility. Shibusa includes the following essential qualities:
1. Shibui objects appear to be simple overall but they include subtle details, such as textures, that balance simplicity with complexity.
2. This balance of simplicity and complexity ensures that one does not tire of a shibui object but constantly finds new meanings and enriched beauty that cause its aesthetic value to grow over the years.
3. Shibusa is not to be confused with wabi or sabi. Though many wabi or sabi objects are shibui, not all shibui objects are wabi or sabi. Wabi or sabi objects can be more severe and sometimes exaggerate intentional imperfections to such an extent that they can appear to be artificial. Shibui objects are not necessarily imperfect or asymmetrical, though they can include these qualities.
4. Shibusa walks a fine line between contrasting aesthetic concepts such as elegant and rough or spontaneous and restrained.
The colors of shibusa are "muddy" colors. For example, in interior decorating and painting, gray is added to primary colors to create a silvery effect that ties the different colors together into a coordinated scheme. Depending upon how much gray is added, shibui colors range from pastels to dark. Occasionally, a patch of brighter color is added as a highlight.
The seven elements of shibusa are simplicity, implicity, modesty, silence, naturalness, everydayness, and imperfection. The aristocratic simplicity of shibusa is the refined expression of the essence of elements in an aesthetic experience producing quietude. Spare elegance is evident in darkling serenity with a hint of sparkle. Implicity allows depth of feeling to be visible through a spare surface design thereby manifesting the invisible core that offers new meanings with each encounter. The person of shibusa modesty exalts excellence via a thoroughness of taking time to learn, watch, read, understand, develop, think, and merges into understatement and silence concerning oneself. Shibusa's sanctuary of silence, non-dualism—the resolution of opposites, is intuition coupled with beauty and faith as foundations for phases of truth revealing the worship and reverence for life. Naturalness conveys spontaneity in growth, unforced. The healthy roughness of texture and irregular asymmetrical form maintain shibusa freedom wherein the center lies beyond all particular things in infinity. Everydayness raises ordinary things to a place of honor refined of all artificial and unnecessary properties thus imparting spiritual joy for today is more auspicious than tomorrow. Shibusa everydayness provides a framework, a tradition for an artist's oeuvre to be a unit not a process.
Hiroshi Mizuo argues that the best examples of shibusa are found in the crafts, which are ordinary objects made to be used; also, since they are mass-produced, they tend to be more spontaneous and healthy than many of the fine arts. Imperfection in shibusa Soetsu Yanagi in The Unknown Craftsman refers to as "beauty with inner implications". It is not a beauty displayed before the viewer by its creator; creation here means making a piece that will lead the viewer to draw beauty out of it for oneself. Shibui beauty, as in the beauty of Tea Ceremony, is beauty that makes an artist of the viewer." The Lang 8 Blog includes this observation: ...things or persons liked by kids or younger people are generally not shibui. So milk is not shibui, but Highland single malt Scotch whisky is shibui.
In James A. Michener's book Iberia the adjective 'shibui' is referenced as follows: "The Japanese have a word which summarizes all the best in Japanese life, yet it has no explanation and cannot be translated. It is the word shibui, and the best approximation to its meaning is 'acerbic good taste.'" The author Trevanian (the nom de plume of Dr. Rodney William Whitaker) wrote in his 1979 best-selling novel Shibumi, “Shibumi has to do with great refinement underlying commonplace appearances.” In the business fable The Shibumi Strategy, the author, Matthew May, wrote that shibumi "has come to denote those things that exhibit in paradox and all at once the very best of everything and nothing: Elegant simplicity. Effortless effectiveness. Understated excellence. Beautiful imperfection."
Sorry to abuse of the "cut and paste" here, but couldn't move forward without first establishing this, after all this is the same reason why I felt in love with Tom Bihn products, specially the Aeronaut.
But going back to the specifics...
Comparative description: the Toraberazunoto has the same functionality and versatility of the Filofax but without the bulk or the weight of the Ring Mechanism, instead of using metal rings it resorts to elastics and rubber bands to hold it's contents.
To me this difference gives to to the Toraberazunoto the exact same advantages the Aeronaut has over the wheeled carry-on:
. Less bulk
. Less weight
. Easier to store
. T.A.R.D.I.S. effect
. Endless configurations
. Highly updatable content
. Easy to change configurations
. No mechanisms to break or rust
. Great eclectic and enthusiastic support ecosystem
Really guys... people of all kinds of backgrounds, ages, tastes and occupations find good uses for this thing!
My personal reasons to like it...
I hate spiral notebooks and tolerate ring binders! Why? I can´t find a comfortable position to write on the left page of the spiral notebooks and I dislike the bulk of the ring binders. What about the moleskines and others like it? Well, it´s what I use, but it bothers me to have to carry more then I need.
Good example of this is a full year diary or planner... I would be happier with a three months fascicle, for example... Got it?!
The Toraberazunoto inserts open as flat as a notebook can open! And you fill it with just about anything you mind conceive and your heart desire! Very easy to make your own inserts, there are no awkward holes or thick bindings to deal with. It can be as simple as a couple folded pages of any kind of paper!
What I dislike...
1. The page format... I like to stick to standard formats like A5, A6 and/or A7. First of all, because is easier to find replacements. Second, familiarity with the size. Third, means no wastes in making it (A7 is half of A6, A6 is half of A5, A5 is half of A4, A4 is half of A3, A3 is half of A2, A2 is half of A1, A1 is half of A0 and A0 is the size made by the paper companies)
2. Too few cover color options
Disclaimer: I have no stock options on Midori or Tom Bihn, Inc. !
HTH
eWalker
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Originally Posted by Ilkyway
