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Hello.
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I'm a toy developer.
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With a dream of creating new toys
that have never been seen before,
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I began working at a toy company
nine years ago.
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When I first started working there,
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I proposed many new ideas
to my boss every day.
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However, my boss always asked
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if I had the data to prove it would sell,
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and to think of product development
after analyzing market data.
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Data, data, data...
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So, I analyzed the market data
before thinking of a product.
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However, I was unable to think
of anything new at that moment.
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(Laughter)
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My ideas were unoriginal.
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I wasn't getting any new ideas
and I grew tired of thinking,
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It was so hard that I became this skinny.
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(Laughter)
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It's true.
(Applause)
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You've all probably had similar experience
and felt this way too.
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Your boss was being difficult.
The data was difficult.
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You become sick of thinking.
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Now, I throw out the data.
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It's my dream to create new toys.
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And now, instead of data,
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I'm using a game called "shiritori"
to come up with new ideas.
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I would like to introduce
this method today.
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What is "shiritori"?
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Take apple, elephant, and trumpet,
for example.
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It's a game where you take turns
saying words that start with
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the last letter of the previous word.
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It's the same in Japanese and English.
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You can play "shiritori" as you like.
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"neKO, KOra, RAibu, BUrashi," etc, etc.
(cat, cola, concert, brush)
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Many random words will come out.
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You force those words to connect to what
you want to think of and form ideas.
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In my case, for example,
since I want to think of toys,
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what could a toy cat be?
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A cat that lands after doing
a somersault from a high place?
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How about a toy with cola?
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A toy gun where you shoot cola
and get someone soaking wet?
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(Laughter)
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Ridiculous ideas are okay.
The key is to keep them flowing.
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The more ideas you produce, you're sure
to come up with some good ones, too.
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A brush, for example.
Can we make a toothbrush into a toy?
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We could combine
a toothbrush with a guitar and --
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"Strum! Strum! Strum!"
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-- you've got a toy you can play with
while brushing your teeth.
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(Laughter) (Applause)
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Kids who don't like to brush
their teeth might begin to like it.
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Can we make a hat into a toy?
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How about something like Russian Roulette,
where you try the hat on one by one,
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and then, when someone puts it on,
a scary alien breaks through the top
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screaming, "Aaahh!!"
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I wonder if there would be
a demand for this at parties?
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Ideas that didn't come out while you stare
at the data will start to come out.
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Actually, this bubble wrap,
which is used to pack fragile objects,
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combined with a toy,
made "Mugen Pop Pop,"
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a toy where you can pop
the bubbles as much as you like.
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It was a big hit when it reached stores.
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Data had nothing to do with its success.
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Although it's only popping bubbles
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but it's a great way to kill time,
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so please pass this around
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amongst yourselves today and play with it.
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(Applause)
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Anyway, you continue to come up with
useless ideas.
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Think up many trivial ideas, everyone.
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If you base your ideas on data analysis
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and know what you're aiming for,
you'll end up trying too hard,
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and you can't produce new ideas.
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Even if you know what your aim is,
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think of ideas as freely as if you were
throwing darts with your eyes closed.
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If you do this, you surely will hit
somewhere near the center.
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At least one will.
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That's the one you should choose.
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If you do so, that idea will be in demand
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and, moreover, it will be brand new.
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That is how I think of new ideas.
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It doesn't have to be "shiritori";
there are many different methods.
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You just have to choose words at random.
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You can flip through a dictionary
and choose words at random.
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For example, you could look up two
random letters and gather the results
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or go to the store
and connect product names
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with what you want to think of.
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The point is to gather random words,
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not information from the category
you're thinking for.
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If you do this, the ingredients for
the association of ideas are collected
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and form connections
that will produce many ideas.
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The greatest advantage to this method
is the continuous flow of images.
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Because you're thinking
of one word after another,
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the image of the previous word
is still with you.
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That image will automatically
be related with future words.
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Unconsciously, a concert will
be connected to a brush
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and a roulette will be connected to a hat.
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You would't even realize it.
You can come up with ideas
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that you wouldn't have thought otherwise.
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This method is, of course,
not just for toys.
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You can collect ideas for books, apps,
events, and many other projects.
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I hope you all try this method.
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There are futures that are born from data.
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However, using this silly game
called "shiritori,"
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I look forward to exciting future
you will create,
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a future you couldn't even imagine.
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Thank you very much.
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(Applause)