“Things that are easy to use survive, regardless of what is fashionable, and people want to use them forever,” Yanagi said in a 2002 Japan Times article. “But if things are created merely for a passing vogue and not for a purpose, people soon get bored with them and throw them away.

“The fundamental problem,” he added, “is that many products are created to be sold, not used.” —Sori Yanagi