It’s Alan Watts’ words that remind us nature has mercifully arranged the principles of forgettery as well as memory. I would argue there is a difference between collecting and hoarding. There’s a talent in knowing when to remember, what to remember, and when it is to our natural advantage to let go and forget. I like the idea of collecting others’ memories in a physical way.

It becomes both an act and a skill to curate as we collect. Holding something tangible is an entirely different experience from seeing it online, just as loving someone in the flesh is. In Tokyo, this was an interesting experiment. The Japanese are excellent collectors, excellent curators, interested in references and even more in improving upon what they’ve collected. With the influence of American fashion in Tokyo, it’s often remarked as the best American vintage shopping in the world; the denim game has been taken to new heights. Entire bookstores are dedicated to French Nouvelle Vague. The Japanese pay homage to the history of an object, showing delicate respect in their way of bringing the past into today, which happens to be my favorite pastime.

I collected while I explored Tokyo, intrigued by the years that had touched some of these papers, and their presentation and preservation as if they were birth certificates of a beloved ancestor. The respect these materials harbored only tempted me to pay my own. To the places visited, the local Don Katsu lunch spot that blew my mind and my palate, day after day. Included is their napkin, as everything in Tokyo, customized and designed with care. There is no apparent generic supplier for small, one-off restaurants; they’re all about custom everything. I give it my respect, layered into this collage, as a way to remember the small details that the Japanese refuse to overlook.