Something of high purity — what emerged from the 18 months poured into AYANA

Bali, 7:00 in the morning. We were all walking through the forest. Through dense tropical rainforest, from one end of the resort to the other, at the speed of our own feet — about two hours, they say. The air is already humid. Before the sun climbs high, soft light streams in between the leaves. Through the gaps in the trees the sea occasionally shows its face, and the wind blows through those gaps. We take in the still sparsely peopled resort with our own feet, our own eyes. Beside us, photographers Kato and Yukudake press their shutters. As they shoot, color is applied and begins arriving on the PC. The rustle of leaves, the wind, the light — the temperature we felt while walking is captured, just so, in the photos. This moment was the beginning of everything.

It’s nearly two years since launch. The interview was one day in March, a year ago. Editing it now, it’s this June, with morning glories blooming vigorously. I’ve let it rest a good long while. Perhaps I can’t go to Bali until I finish writing this.

After launch, the response came back as both numbers and words. Social media, a “WEB Designing” feature, feedback from the client. Among the many “evaluations,” which moment was the most gratifying? The answer I’d imagined was outward-facing — being picked up somewhere, someone making it go viral. But what remained deep in their memory was joy felt directly, right before their eyes.

This guide map supports GPS, so it truly functions “as a map.” There was no way to confirm it from Japan, but the client showed us in real time, across the sea: “it’s working properly!” That thrill is unique to an overseas project. And then Yonemichi speaks — the story of that Bali morning from the opening.

The place itself was, without question, captivating. You only understand by going and walking. And yet that wasn’t coming through on the site or social media. What you could receive was far too little. The first site alone didn’t convey AYANA BALI’s vastness; only by going there and walking on your own feet do you realize, “it was such a vast place.”

The renewed site was the work of translating that felt sense onto the screen.

From here on, it was long, patient policy-setting and information design, built up steadily. Taking twice the time other firms would imagine, we raised the project’s “main pillar.” The editorial team came along to the site as well, so even the words in the policy documents carried a warmth. And the guide map transformed from the policy stage on. From a first draft that looked like Google Maps as-is, many hands went in and it became something else. The biggest turning point was the “GPS” mentioned earlier.

And the guide map transformed from the policy stage on. From a first draft that looked like Google Maps as-is, many hands went in and it became something else. The biggest turning point was the “GPS” mentioned earlier.

Time is finite. Yonemichi knows this in his body. Watching from beside him, that conviction quietly transmits itself. How far will he sprint on alone? — the feet of those of us watching sometimes freeze. But there’s no time for that. Even while we draw breath, he’s moving his hands, piling up verification. A staggering road. And still he doesn’t stop, believing an end will surely come. Not encouraging, not pulling — just by that figure that keeps moving its hands, before we know it we, too, are pushed forward.

It feels a shame to settle this with the single word “guts.” Isn’t there a much better word? — so I searched. But the man himself admits it plainly.

And we asked TD Okabe how AD Yonemichi looks to him.

In him, too — saying something so diametrically opposite so lightly — there’s a different kind of formidableness.

AYANA’s implementation is deeper than it looks. The wave effect that works across the whole, the vast set of pages, the CMS that binds them, a map that even picks up location data. There were people who built this looking like they were having fun. This “looking like fun” is the flip side of the precision behind Okabe. Delivering high quality by a fixed deadline, without fail. “Thorough management” carried out in a back-to-the-wall situation where “there’s no other option.” Because that hard foundation is there, the surface looks playful.

There’s the assurance of having the reins held. “You don’t need to stray beyond this range; give it your all right here.” We ask engineer Suta whether he doesn’t think of going beyond Okabe’s imagination. “In small ways, sure. At first I tried making flashier effects,” he laughs. And the wave applied across that whole site wasn’t headed that way from the start.

But that “by chance” is no magic. To arrive there, you line up dozens of versions and select the very best. The true nature of what looks like talent from the outside is this patient plainness.

Okabe is like a wind that blows in autumn — one that carries a hint of winter rather than spring. At a glance, a soft presence that seems to envelop everyone. But what lies in wait beyond that is a stern eye pursuing 120% and thorough management. That’s exactly why he can do the effects. “This way’s better, right..!” — he deliberately brings the harder option, eyes shining. Of course, that way is better. But it’s the same as declaring you’ll climb all the way up Everest. And he makes it by the deadline, pulling it off at 120% quality.
To reconcile steadiness and play means there are days that bleed.

An overseas project — and a four-language website, no less.

Our first overseas project, saved by the client’s warmth. Every morning, a message with a line added: “good morning, have a good day.” Even when we were flustered, they’d say, “it’s okay, let’s do our best.” A culture unique to abroad, not found in Japan — no, it was AYANA’s culture. For the designers, there were days of tears, too. In an internal review, it came back “completely no good,” and a week later that awaited once more. No one remembers the emotions of that time in detail; it was truly a momentary thing. The very process of getting there is growth itself. Giving up was never an option.

To declare outright that the grueling time, and one’s superior, are a “treasure.”
The AD who makes her say so, and the one who says it outright, are neither of them ordinary.

That Yonemichi’s power was great is a fact. But without Yamasaki and Watanabe, you don’t reach the world’s best site. The same goes for implementation. On a long, large project, one talented person alone can’t reach further. However hard you try, a moment that’s impossible surely comes. That’s what a team is for. “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.” And lastly, we asked for reflections.

And then he lets slip an even higher-purity truth.

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