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STANCE vol.2 'Arrange. Rearrange.' Culture x Life Magazine

Ryu.

2026年3月29日 00:09

[Ideation Method] We have released the method that served as the basis for this magazine!

The creation of 'arranging and rearranging'

Creation.

We are already repeating it.

Choose.
Arrange.
Rearrange.

What to keep, and what to discard.

That accumulation appears as the shape of you.

Though it seems like we are creating something new,
we are merely testing combinations of what already exists.

Knowledge, daily life, the body, and words.
Everything is material.

Where to place it.
In what order to put it.

That difference gives it meaning.

There are countless combinations of materials.

But we cannot have everything.

We only have one body, and the time left in our lives is limited.
That is why we choose.

What is chosen remains,
and with what remains, a person is formed.

Life is a series of creations.

We are all,
creating our own lives.

What will you arrange?
How will you rearrange it?

What will you keep?

All of it is
forming your stance.

What kind of STANCE will you take?

THEME: The Technique of Creation

Creation is made of combinations.

'I want to generate original ideas'

When we think that, we are imagining somewhere

creating ideas from scratch.

First,let's change that image a little.

In reality, most ideas that look new are combinations of elements that already exist.

And the methodology to reach that approach is summarized in one classic book.

'A Technique for Producing Ideas'

In 'A Technique for Producing Ideas',
it is said that an idea is anew combination of existing elements.

This definition is simple, but essential.

Every day, we accumulate fragments such as knowledge, experience, words, and sensations.

And at some moment, they connect and become one form.
That is an idea.

What is important is not 'thinking of something', but
'finding the relationship between things that already exist'.
Cross different domains.

Shift the context.
That is how you combine elements.
Sometimes, intentionally misbutton them.
At that moment, things you were used to seeing begin to have a different meaning.

Rather than seeking new things, it is about how you arrange what you have.

It is about how you rearrange them.

An idea is not a flash of inspiration.

At the very least, it is far from the momentary flash of genius that the world imagines.

An idea is
something that appears the moment the fragments of knowledge accumulated within you
are rearranged into the proper position.

That is why creation can become a technique.

Collecting.
Arranging.
Rearranging.

What one gains by continuing this process.
A reproducible technique is shown in 'A Technique for Producing Ideas'.

This book contains that technique.
This book is perfect as the first one to read if you want to learn how to generate ideas.

Modern Intellectual Production Techniques

In 'A Technique for Producing Ideas', it is recommended to acquire knowledge and continue thinking about its combinations.

And, I will introduce two books that recommend similar idea-generation methods using tools familiar to us.

1. 'The Technique of Intellectual Production' by Tadao Umesao

As already mentioned, creation is born from the combination of existing elements.

If so,
how to generate that 'combination' becomes an important technique.

* "The Art of Intellectual Production" is also available for purchase on Kindle Unlimited. In "The Art of Intellectual Production," Tadao Umesao advocates that intellectual production should not be completed solely within the mind, but rather expanded and manipulated externally.

At the heart of this is the card method.

Write down information and thoughts on a single card and store them.

Carry the stored cards with you and review them repeatedly.
Rearrange the order, bring related items together, move them apart, and simply gaze at past thoughts.

The essence of this method is not to "record and memorize" when writing on cards.

On the contrary, once you have recorded your thoughts, it is fine to forget the content.

What is important is to make your thoughts physically accessible.

Once you take what is in your head and put it into the form of a card, it becomes something you can "move around."

Arrange.

Rearrange.

Through these operations, relationships that were previously invisible emerge.

In other words, the card method is a technique for "arranging and rearranging" ideas for the sake of creation.

This book, which allows you to learn concrete methodologies for generating ideas, provides a new perspective on how to approach them.

It is recommended for those who want to shift their perspective on thinking.

"Introduction to Outliner Practice" Tak.

And in the modern age, the art of intellectual production is being reproduced in a different form.

The outliner presented in "Introduction to Outliner Practice" is a tool that makes this "arranging and rearranging" possible in a digital environment.

With an outliner,

separate items,

Hierarchize,

Move freely.

Copy,

Delete,

Reconstruct.

The act of rearranging cards, which we once did, can now be done with almost no friction.

The significance of this change is not small.

First, the 'number of trials' for thinking increases.

With fewer physical constraints, we can try rearranging more casually and as many times as we like.

Second, the 'storage and reuse' of thinking becomes easier. We can recall fragments arranged in the past and rearrange them again in a different context.

With the card method, it inevitably becomes difficult to carry around or search for past data as information increases.

Third, thinking itself becomes a 'structure that accumulates.'

It is not just a single note, but can be left as a network with relationships.

Having said all this,
what is important is not that tools have evolved and a method superior to the card method has emerged.

It means that thanks to outliners, anyone can enjoy a creative life with just a PC or smartphone.

'The Technique of Intellectual Production' and 'Introduction to Outliner Practice' are, I believe, the first and second volumes of intellectual production techniques that transcend time.
Both are fundamental books for this issue of STANCE vol.2.

If you are interested, please pick them up.

Essay

Cooking, creativity within daily life

The inside of a refrigerator is filled with coincidences.

Vegetables you bought more of than you thought and couldn't finish.

Frozen food someone gave you.

Gifts from hometown tax donations.

Ethnic spices you've only used once.

Leftovers from yesterday's meal.

Even though I was the one who put them in the fridge, before I knew it, they had become like a single ecosystem.

It feels as if they are no longer under my control, and each one has settled in there.

The refrigerator is not made up solely of my own intentions.

Coincidence enters into it just as much as choice.

That doesn't change when I cook, either.

When you keep cooking for yourself, even without deciding on a menu,

you become able to cook with whatever you have on hand.

You look at what is in front of you and think about the combinations.

What to use.

What to leave behind.

With those choices, a dish is decided.

The contents of a refrigerator are very similar to knowledge and experience.

They are not things you created yourself.

They are fragments received from somewhere.

You cannot create them from scratch.

However, you can combine them.

What is important is to keep track of what is inside.

What is there?

What does it taste like?

Just knowing that expands the possibilities of combinations.

And then, at some point, the moment you open the refrigerator, a combination comes to mind.

This, and this.

That feeling is not limited to cooking.

Ideas seem to be born in the same way.

Well, it turns out I was doing the same thing as renowned intellectuals in my daily life.

Culture

'Insert Complex Title Here' Virgil Abloh

Creation does not necessarily require major changes.

Rather, meaning can be updated through very slight differences.

Virgil Abloh, a world-renowned designer who passed away suddenly in 2021 at the height of his popularity, spoke of the '3% Rule' as his design philosophy.

He claimed that by making just a 3% adjustment to existing designs, one could create new value.

At first glance, it may seem like a change so small it cannot be called creation.

However, that 3% changes the context.

For example, adding text to an existing sneaker.

Adding quotation marks.

Shifting the placement.

With just that, the object changes from a mere 'product' to,

'art with a message'.

What is important is not what or how much you changed.

The impact is obvious when looking at the popularity of the collaboration sneakers he left behind with NIKE.

The minimal intervention of 3% also means, conversely, that 97% already exists.

Creation is not born from nothing.

It arises by slightly rearranging what is already there.

It is closer to editing than to bold creation.

March 28, 2026
The collaboration sneaker 'Air Jordan 1 High OG X V.A.A.' by Jordan Brand and 'Virgil Abloh Archive' will be released.

On the same day, a book about him titled 'The Virgil Reader, Volume 001' will also be released, so be sure to check that out as well.

【This week's recommendation】
'"Complex Title Here"'
A valuable book that discusses his design philosophy, including his 3% rule.

Running x Art: The worldview created by 'UVU club'

An up-and-coming brand with momentum that is elevating running into a culture.

First, please watch the video below.

It is a worldview that seems to combine running with art, film, and music videos.

When looking at Instagram, I often see overseas influencers wearing UVU club items.

This must mean that the number of people who resonate with their vision is growing.

They run through the city, on the track, and in nature.

Sometimes they run alone, and sometimes they run with friends.

Watching them, you realize that running is more than just a diet or a sport.

It is their way of life and their community.

It is said that 'UVU' is a coined term derived from 'You vs You'.

The one you should compete with is yourself.

You should keep an eye on UVU club, which coolly 'combines' both that stoicism and artistic visuals.

[If you have awakened to running culture]

If you resonate with the vision of UVU club,
a Garmin smartwatch will be your best partner to start with.

To compete with the you of yesterday, keeping records with a GPS smartwatch will be the ultimate motivation.

Above all, letting go of your smartphone and running freely through the city
might lead you into a creative mode.

[Reference] The interview article by the web magazine HOUYHNHNM ishere

This month's purchases

MUJI Double Ring Notebook B6

Until now, I have done almost all my note-taking and recording digitally.

I jot down ideas immediately using an outliner on my smartphone or PC.

I thought it was rational because rearranging and organizing are easy.

However, I felt like stepping away from it for a little while.

I felt the need to distance myself from an environment constantly pulled by notifications and other information.

For that purpose, I bought a notebook.

For me, this B6 ring notebook is the perfect size—small, yet just big enough to organize my scattered thoughts.

It has an elastic band, and I carry it around in my bag.

One of the triggers was suddenly remembering the book 'The Artist's Way'.

There is a habit recommended in it called 'Morning Pages'.

In the morning, you write down whatever comes to mind without judging whether it is good or bad.

Now, I open my notebook during that time.

In the morning, when nothing has started yet, I scribble down unrefined words.

I feel that the act of writing has a different sensation compared to digital.

You cannot erase it immediately, and what you write remains as it is.

That inconvenience also helps me feel like I am building something up.

I use it like a journal before organizing things digitally.

I leave fragments of thoughts and things that haven't taken shape yet just as they are.

When I look back at them later, I sometimes find hints that lead to the next step mixed in.

A notebook is not for organizing things neatly, but rather, I imagine it as the first step to吐き出す (spit out) and take inventory of the materials inside me.

Things before they are arranged.

Things before they are rearranged.

It seems the notebook will become a place to keep such fragments.

Editor's Note

Thank you for reading this far.

The theme for this issue is 'Creation'.

Arrange, and rearrange.

In that repetition, something emerges.

I hope I have been able to convey that feeling through these few fragments.

Although I intentionally did not touch upon it in the main text, this magazine itself is made using the same method.

Several ideas, experiences, and words that I have accumulated within myself.

I arrange them, rearrange them, and turn them into a single flow.

What we call creation might actually be closer to the act of editing.

Rather than creating something new, it is about finding relationships between things that already exist.

Changing their positions just a little.

Changing the overlap of their meanings.

With just that, the world you see changes.

And that,

is not limited to writing or works of art.

Daily choices also have the same structure.

What to choose,

what to leave behind,

and how to arrange them.

That repetition shapes the form of a human being.

That is also the reason for the name STANCE.

Stance and attitude do not appear suddenly.

I believe they emerge as the result of accumulated choices.