無印良品

By Silvia Killingsworth

A few months earlier， Muji， the Japanese life-style brand that sells household goods and clothing， opened an 11，000 square-foot flagship store on Fifth Avenue，2 across the street from the New York Public Library. On Black Friday， despite a solid row of flyers in the windows touting sales of 30- to 50-per-cent off， there was little to compare with the frenzied crowds down the street at Lord & Taylor （which had the added allure of Santa Claus）.3 The atmosphere at Muji was relaxed， and almost meditative： a floor display invited customers to try out the Body Fit Cushion， a microbead bean-bag chair.4 Several tourists cooled their heels， and two young children flopped themselves across a cushion while their parents perused ceramics and socks of muted colors.5 Nearby， clouds of cool vapor， lightly scented of lemongrass and citrus， puffed delicately from diffusers at the Aroma Labo， a station for creating custom room fragrances out of essential oils.6

Muji was launched in Japan in 1980， as Mujirushi Ryohin， which means “no-brand quality goods.” It was intended to be a generic line for the Seiyu Supermarket Group， boasting the tagline “Lower prices for a reason.”7 Initially， Muji included only 40 different products， mainly food and household goods. Today， it is an independent two-billion-dollar company， selling more than 7，000 items ranging from furniture to soap. It keeps prices low by paying close attention to processing and packaging （most of Mujis paper products are unbleached）， and by using undesirable and industrial materials， which are cheaper in bulk （it once famously sold “U-Shaped Spaghetti，” made from the discarded ends of pasta）.8

According to its 2015 year-end report， Muji is currently in what it calls its “jump” phase （preceded by “hop” and “step”），9 defined by growth abroad and efficiency at home. Globally， it now has more than 700 stores， 13 of which are in the U.S.， and it plans to increase that number to 888， mostly by opening stores outside of Japan. The real growth is going to come from aggressive expansion10 in China， where it will add 72 stores in 2016. Muji has succeeded in part by incorporating the aesthetic consequences of cost-cutting into its design philosophy.11 On its Website， the company touts the contrast between its plain-looking goods and the “prevailing over-embellished products in the marketplace.”12 The Muji aesthetic， or near lack of one， embraces simplicity and utility.13 Along with the KonMari tidying craze， its fast becoming one of Japans most popular cultural exports.14 A decade ago， we had cool Japan， all Hello Kitty and Pokémon and street fashion.15 Muji， with its lack of logos， represents post-cool， normcore Japan， which is， of course， a fetishized version of Japanese culture—serene and neat and proper.16

It is tempting to describe Mujis goods as basic， but that would belie the sophistication and premeditation at work.17 Its Facebook page describes its aim as creating “products that are really necessary in everyday life in the shapes that are really necessary.” Muji certainly produces staples， like stationery， kitchenware，18 cleaning products， luggage， storage options， and snacks. The colors， patterns， and materials are generic19， but everything， from toothbrush holders to storage boxes， comes in pleasing shapes.

In many ways， Muji provides a template or raw materials to be finished by the customer—its not that the goods are incomplete but that they dont yet have anyones fingerprint.20 The companys clothing collection focuses on wardrobe items so standard that you probably already own a version of each， and they come in especially plain colors： blues， blacks， reds， browns from the paper-pulp family， and every shade of gray.21 Where Uniqlo， another Japanese retailer， goes for the full rainbow， Muji sticks to what it calls “genuine color，” or earth tones from the natural environment.22 A sign near a display of alpaca sweaters23 reads， “We have made sweaters to give life to these genuine colors which are blessings of nature.”

Such statements， and the companys broader articulations of its principles， seem designed to sound practically spiritual—its seasonal catalogue is a chapbook called “The Why of Muji.”24 Its advertising conveys the sense that life without logos， loud colors， and sharp edges is peaceful and free of distraction and excess.25 In one spot， a slow-motion montage shows people lounging serenely on cushions in their homes and napping peacefully with travel pillows on an airplane.26 Another， a mesmerizing three-minute video showing modular shelving， is a cure for tidy obsessive-compulsives.27

How do you scale an entire company whose philosophy is rooted in judiciousness，28 and how big is big enough？ In 2015， Muji posted an 18% increase in revenue over the year， to $2.14 billion， and a 14% increase in profits， to $196 million， and it aims to continue apace29 next year. In its annual report， there is a bar graph of net sales over time， with a gray arrow that signifies the future pointing up and to the right，30 beyond the 300 billion-yen mark （about $2.5 billion）. The company hopes to establish a “global brand” with “perpetual growth” and “consistent dividend payout” by the year 2020， which sounds a lot like kaizen， the popular Japanese business principle of continuous improvement.31 Muji is banking on “the idea that simplicity is not merely modest or frugal， but could possibly be more appealing than luxury.”32

Above all， though， Muji is trafficking in fantasy，33 as the science-fiction writer William Gibson wrote in 2001：

Muji…calls up a wonderful Japan that doesnt really exist. A Japan of the mind， where even toenail-clippers and plastic coat-hangers possess a Zen purity： functional， minimal，34 reasonably priced. I would very much like to visit the Japan that Muji evokes35. I would vacation there and attain a new serenity， smooth and translucent， in perfect counterpoint to natural fabrics and unbleached cardboard.36 My toiletries37 would pretend to be nothing more than what they are， and neither would I.

Anyone who has watched even one season of Mad Men38 knows that fantasy is the basis for the best marketing. What could be cooler than a brand whose branding seems incidental， or better yet， completely organic？39 The answer， for Muji， is a neat paradox， like a Zen koan： massive minimalism through perpetual growth.40

1. Zen： 禪，禪宗；Muji： 無印良品，日本雜貨品牌。

2. household goods： 日用品；flagship store： 旗艦店；Fifth Avenue：（美國）第五大道，位于紐約市曼哈頓的中心地帶。

3. 在黑色星期五那天，盡管櫥窗里貼著成排七折到五折的促銷單，店鋪的熱鬧程度卻不能與沿街的Lord & Taylor百貨內(nèi)狂熱的人群相比（Lord & Taylor里的圣誕老人增加了對顧客的吸引力）。Black Friday： 黑色星期五，是美國最大的購物狂歡節(jié)，一般從感恩節(jié)第二天開始，到圣誕節(jié)將近一個月的時間；solid： 緊密相連的；flyer： 傳單；tout： 兜售，招攬客人；frenzied： 瘋狂的，狂熱的；Lord & Taylor： 一家老牌美國奢侈品連鎖百貨公司；allure： 誘惑，魅力。

4. meditative： 沉思的，冥想的；Body Fit Cushion： Muji旗下的人氣產(chǎn)品，融合了日本傳統(tǒng)地板文化的舒適坐墊；microbead bean-bag chair： 塑料微珠豆袋椅。

5. cool ones heel： 長時間等待；flop： 猛然坐下；peruse： 瀏覽；ceramics： 陶器，陶瓷；muted： 柔和的。

6. 不遠(yuǎn)處水霧繚繞，淡淡的檸檬草和柑橘的香味緩緩升騰，從可以定制室內(nèi)香氛的香薰工坊的精油香薰機里悠悠散發(fā)出來。vapor： 水蒸氣；scent of： 發(fā)出……的氣味；puff： 噴出，噴灑；diffuser： 擴散器；Aroma Labo： 香薰工坊，Muji打造的一個香薰制品的購物空間；custom： 定制的；fragrance： 香氛；essential oil： 精油。

7. generic line： 沒有品牌的產(chǎn)品種類； Seiyu Supermarket Group： 日本西友百貨公司，主要經(jīng)營連鎖超市、雜貨商店事業(yè)；boast： 以擁有……而自豪；tagline： 宣傳詞，品牌口號。

8. unbleached： 原色的，未漂白的； undesirable： 不受歡迎的；in bulk： 大量，整批；U-Shaped Spaghetti： U型意面；discarded ends of pasta： 意面的廢料。

9. precede by： 在……之前；hop： 跳躍，彈跳；step： 跨步。

10. aggressive expansion： 積極擴張。

11. 無印良品的成功還部分源于將削減成本的審美觀融入產(chǎn)品的設(shè)計理念。 incorporate： 吸收，混合；aesthetic： 美學(xué)的，審美的。

12. plain-looking： 相貌平平的；prevailing： 普遍的，盛行的；over-embellished： 過度裝飾的。

13. embrace： 接納，包括；simplicity： 簡約；utility： 實用性。

14. 隨著KonMari 整理法流行開來，無印良品的產(chǎn)品很快變成了最受歡迎的日本文化輸出品之一。KonMari： 日本有一本暢銷書叫做《怦然心動的人生整理魔法》，作者是日本的一位名叫Marie Kond的居家達(dá)人，她在書中教給讀者歸整家中空間的招數(shù)，被稱為KonMari整理法；craze： 狂熱，風(fēng)行。

15. 十年之前，我們看到的是“酷日本”，到處都是Hello Kitty、神奇寶貝和街頭時尚。

16. 沒有商標(biāo)的無印良品代表了后酷時代，一種提倡舒適休閑的日本文化，當(dāng)然，這也是一種極受推崇的沉靜、整潔和適宜的日本文化。serene： 平靜的，下文中出現(xiàn)的serenity為其名詞形式；normcore： 即Normal（平常）+Hardcore（核心），指推崇簡單舒適的風(fēng)格，通過平淡之風(fēng)體現(xiàn)高格調(diào)；fetishized： 被迷戀的，受崇拜的。

17. it is tempting to do： 很想做某事（看起來是正確或合理的，但很可能是錯誤的）；belie： 掩飾；sophistication： （產(chǎn)品的）精密，精細(xì)； premeditation： 預(yù)先策劃。

18. staple： 日常必需品；stationery： 文具；kitchenware： 廚具。

19. generic： 通用的，一般的。

20. template： 樣板，模板；raw material： 原材料； fingerprint： 指紋。

21. wardrobe： 衣柜；standard： 普通的；plain： 樸素的； paper-pulp： 紙漿；shade： 色度。

22. Uniqlo： 優(yōu)衣庫，日本服裝品牌零售商；retailer： 零售商；genuine： 真實的；earth tone： 褐土色。

23. alpaca sweater： 羊駝衫。

24. 無印良品的此類聲明，以及對其經(jīng)營準(zhǔn)則的廣義表達(dá)使得其設(shè)計聽起來更注重精神層面——它的季度目錄是一本名為“為何選擇無印良品”的小冊子。articulation：（思想或感情的）表達(dá)； chapbook： 小冊子。

25. 它的廣告?zhèn)鬟f了這樣一種理念——沒有商標(biāo)、浮夸色彩和棱棱角角的生活才是平靜、不受干擾并且有節(jié)制的生活。

26. slow-motion： 緩慢的，慢動作的；montage： 蒙太奇，（電影電視的）鏡頭組接合成；lounge： 懶洋洋地躺著；nap： 小睡，打盹。

27. 在另一個場景中，三分鐘的精彩視頻展示了模塊化置物架，這簡直是對于愛整潔的強迫癥患者們的一劑解藥。mesmerizing： 有吸引力的，有魅力的；modular shelving： 模塊化置物架；obsessive-compulsive： 有強迫癥的人。

28. scale： 衡量；judiciousness： 明智，審慎。

29. apace： 急速地，飛快地。

30. bar graph： 柱狀圖，條形圖；net sales： 凈銷售額；signify： 意味，暗示。

31. 公司希望到2020年能夠建立一個不斷增長并有可持續(xù)股利發(fā)放的全球性品牌，這聽起來與“kaizen”理念很相似，即在日本受歡迎的“持續(xù)改善”的經(jīng)營原則。perpetual： 永久的，不斷的；dividend payout： 股利發(fā)放，指公司給股東的利益分配。

32. 無印良品期望“簡約的理念不僅僅意味著低調(diào)和樸素，還有可能比奢侈更具吸引力”。bank on： 指望，依賴；frugal： 節(jié)省的，節(jié)儉的。

33. traffic： v. 做生意；fantasy： 想象。

34. toenail-clipper： 指甲剪；coat-hanger： 衣架；purity： 純凈； minimal： 最小的，最少的，文中指“最簡單的”。

35. evoke： 描繪出，使再現(xiàn)。

36. vacation：v. 度假；translucent： 透亮的，清澈的；counterpoint： 對比物；fabric： 織物，織品；cardboard： 硬紙板。

37. toiletry： 化妝品。

38. Mad Men： 《廣告狂人》，美國年代劇，描述了在20世紀(jì)60年代的紐約美國廣告業(yè)黃金時代殘酷的商業(yè)競爭。

39. 有什么比這樣一個品牌更酷呢？它的商標(biāo)看起來像是附屬品，或者這么說更好，它的品牌完全是自然形成的。incidental： 附帶的，次要的；organic：（發(fā)生、發(fā)展過程）自然的，持續(xù)的。

40. 對無印良品而言，答案是一個簡潔的悖論，正如一句禪語所說：不斷的增加成就極簡主義。paradox： 悖論；koan： 公案（佛教禪宗用語，指前輩祖師的言行范例，用以判斷是非迷悟）；massive： 巨大的；minimalism： 極簡主義。