I me [Watakushi]
Idealism
Identity
Image
Imagination
Instinct
Intent
Interaction
Interface
Intuition (chokkan)
Isyoo
Isyoo
When translating the English word design and explaining what it means&sbquo the japanese word ishoo has been taken to be the closet in meaning until now. Japanese often borrows the English word design and pairs it with japanese words. For example&sbquo today the word design is paired with the japanese word koogyoo (industry) to arrive at koogyoo design (industrial design)&sbquo but in the past ishoo had been used (koogyoo ishoo). Similarly&sbquo the corporate organization referred to today with the English design center&sbquo was in the past referred to by isyoobu&sbquo where ishoo means design and bu means section or department. The use of ishoo in Japanese is basically related to painting &sbquo poetry and other similar pursuits&sbquo and means the mindful use of ingenuity in their creation&sbquo and entails interesting devices and proposals. In order to extend the initial interpretation of ishoo as "mental ingenuity" and apply it as a legal term to such products as art objects&sbquo craft objects and industrial products&sbquo the ishoo (design copyright) Law was created in the 42nd year of Meiji (1909) in which ishoo was defined as any decorative proposal or act of creating a proposal through the union of form&sbquo color and pattern. With this&sbquo ishoo became synonymous with the English words design&sbquo and served as an Institutional term so that when a new industrial design (koogyoo ishoo) was invented it could be officially registered and recognized. However&sbquo as the fundamental meaning of design grew with the times&sbquo the word ishoo became locked in its interpretation as the origination of form&sbquo color or pattern as defined in the ishoo (design copyright) Law&sbquo and ended up expressing only part of what design in English means today. it is&sbquo therefore&sbquo difficult to say that ishoo = design. Rather&sbquo I believe that ishoo must return to its original interpretation as "mental ingenuity" and be defined as "planning through concepts for aesthetic elements. "The words ishoo design and design ishoo may be used for design that exploits "mental ingenuity" to the fullest or "mental ingenuity" that utilizes design. I think it is possible to resuscitate the significance of ishoo as connoting the aesthetics of design with the words ishoo design or design ishoo. with the respect it deserves as a term that evokes traditional japanese beauty and culture. Note: The word design in this essay should not to be taken to be the English word design&sbquo but a word spelled in katakana with a distinctive japanese use.