Bob Sliwa, 50, who hails from Massachusetts, has lived in Japan for 22 years. He is the Advance Design Director at COBO Design Co., Ltd., one of the biggest industrial design firms in Japan, and a judge for the Japan Car of the Year Award. He followed the success of his 2004 book "Lexus ga Ichiban ni Natta Wake (The Reason Why Lexus Is No. 1)," written in Japanese and later translated into Korean, with "Brand Design ga Kaisha o Sukuu (Brand Design Can Save Your Company)," in which he offers an irreverent look at the successes and failures of branding around the world.
Many people come here for Zen or kabuki or some traditional art. For me, it was more the Sony Walkman or the Datsun 240Z or any number of cheap electronic gadgets that pulled me over.
I also love the Japanese aesthetic sense, from subtle to over the top, from rock gardens to pachinko. There is great beauty in the aesthetic of food: Eating is as much a visual experience as it is a gastronomical one.