Returning to Japan is always a recharging experience for me. Having spent the last seven years of my life living in Tokyo, Japan is very much a part of the person I have become. It took me a few years to begin to understand the Japanese psyche; how nature deeply inspires their art and design, how the customer experience is regarded above all and how details — regardless of how small — do matter.

Becoming a designer is similar to a foreigner learning the complexities of a new culture. You start by latching onto one bridging concept and then you expand that understanding. For me that concept is embodied by the Japanese appreciation for the “ma-me,” the bean.

As California roll eating Westerners, we are all familiar with “edamame,” those salted bean appetizers best served cold before a meal. But a Japanese person would look closer at a “ma-me” and have a deeper understanding of the significance of this small bean.

To the Japanese, the bean is a reminder of how important the small things are, the details in your work and the importance of diligence in execution. This translates into how the Japanese approach their everyday lives, how they study and work. It oozes into the shoes they design, the way they do business, the music they compose and the pixels they deliver to a client.

To refer to someone as “ma-me” or “ma-me-mameshi” is to give this person a dear compliment. It is to say that this person is diligent, not just in work, but in life. They understand that the minute details are what make up the big picture and will not forgo one for the other. I see this understanding in our best designers and engineers.

Personally, I am far from being “ma-me.” I cut corners to make deadlines, I know that a single pixel difference is not visible to most humans. When I need to, I can BS my way through a shitty concept.

But I try to aim higher than that. I am not sure if I will ever truly achieve being “ma-me” in life, but it is what I strive to be. The first step is understanding that it starts with taking small steps. Steps no larger than a small bean.