The Amano Empire

[PeteCW]

I'm not sure whether this fits together. The gear I saw would be nice for a public swimming pool, but a bit much for normal household, even a somewhat spacious one. It's not really something you can sell in an aquarium shop. That looked more like Home Depot.

Keep in mind, I come from the position of someone who likes his displays as momentary snapshots, but not as something I'd like to have at home. As fish tanks (with stress on "fish"), they would bore me.

The commercial element is something that is intended to entice the home user. It "fits" together perfectly.

 

[Ghost_knife]

I honestly Fail to see why you've decided to post this in General FW. this should go in GCC. I will Move it.

 

[Ulan]

The commercial element is something that is intended to entice the home user. It "fits" together perfectly.

Perhaps. I'm probably not the target group for this. When I see one of those tanks that contains nothing like a piece of driftwood that looks like one of those ikebana pieces that were so popular in the 80's, some fuzz on the wood, a lawn surrounding everything, and some neons swimming in the open, I can only imagine this in a big empty entrance hall of some company, something to polish the image and give yourself the air of "style". Perhaps it's this aspect that lets you think of a predominantly corporate nature of the whole Amano style.

It has its place. If you have a living room where you meet your business partner and place everything in a way to present a certain image of yourself, then it's exactly the right thing. But this may all be seen through my Western glasses; I'm not used to styling my whole everyday life, and a tea ceremony will always be foreign to me.

 

[125gJoe]

Perhaps. I'm probably not the target group for this. ... ...

It has its place. If you have a living room where you meet your business partner and place everything in a way to present a certain image of yourself, then it's exactly the right thing. But this may all be seen through my Western glasses; I'm not used to styling my whole everyday life, and a tea ceremony will always be foreign to me.

Well put Ulan! I don't quite "get" the slam on Amano, but that's OK.

There's no way I could have summed it up as well as you did!
Mentioning the "tea ceremony" was a nice touch too!

Tom Barr - nice to see you, even if "relocated" to GCC! Great post...


-------

This is without question the dumbest thing I have ever read on these forums.

Perhaps you are not "into" aquariums, as some are...?


_______

 

[nursie]

I don't see the need to slam Amano. The guy has a slick marketing operation, and people have flocked to his style, and he has a great talent. Why knock it? If you had what he has going, would you not make the most of it and have your own line of merchandise? Hehe...or maybe you have and his outsells yours
Aquatic gardening has become an artform, and it's the whole package...minimualizing the intrusiveness of equipment, the scape..the fish..the appearance of tank, lighting...the photography. You have to be able to pull it all together to compete on that level. That said..I don't see Amano as the be all and end all of the aquatic landscaping world. There are people out there with some nice stuff, even outstanding.
Appreciation of a beautiful tank is like appreciation of art. Some like Renoir..some like Picasso..some folks like Poker Playing Dogs. It's as important as each person wants to make it, and for me..I like what I like.

 

[nursie]

“I was looking at the tanks wondering why they look so "clean" and uncluttered and I relized that it was because you can't see the mechanics of the tank. Then I relized that the tanks still had the same mechanics as other tanks, they were just clear! I have no idea how they keep the tubing that clear. Unbelievable! Also, it doesn't look like he has a spray bar. Does anybody know what he uses instead or does anybody know the details of his filtration system?”
This was a comment extracted from a different forum on this site posted by Bunny13 referring to a staged Amano photograph.
This clearly demonstrates the power that his marketing team demonstrates over mere mortals such as you and me, but if Bunny13 only understood and appreciated the implications of what that photo represented, she may not have held it in such high regard. Granted, it is a great photo, but what exactly went into creating that photo? MUCH more effort than any rational hobbyist would have put into it, and for this reason, does it really hold that much value?
Once again a mere mortal is wowed and confused as to how such a supposed work of art could have been created or conceived by a human entity……bogus marketing strategy, my dear, and that many more sales for ADA, bless Takashi’s cotton socks.
Case fortified.

A staged Amano photograph is intended to knock your socks off
No need to condescend to Bunny for being impressed. Can you really call Amano a hobbyist? There is a difference between a dedicated professional that makes this his life's work and the average Joe with a tank in the family room. Most folks realize there is a difference.

 

[redtailfool]

. Once again bear in mind that most middle-eastern/ far-eastern cultures are a good 15-20 years behind western aesthetic culture due to socio-political reasons

Interesting. Now please cite references to back this up . How were you able to bunch middle eastern culture with far-eastern culture when they are worlds apart?

 

[plantbrain]

Ah, the great Tom Barr submitted his two cents to this, and what a great two cents it is, for I can think of few in this hobby/industry that conduct themselves as professionally/diplomatically and freely has him in a public capacity, and this can only be construed as a credit to him.

I'm not a guru, great or god like.
I'm just a feeble minded schmo learning. Nor am I that diplomatic either, crotchety is more like it. And that's on a good day.

As for myself, I will continue to keep my true (professional) identity anonymous, and while I have also had extensive direct interaction with Mr. Amano, and yes, he is a charming fellow indeed, I stand by my analysis of his public and business interactions.

Oh? So now you are playing this "true (professional) identity anonymous" game?

Oh please.... but that's your choice to be one and it's still a free country.

In this case it means that they are trying to push a fabricated utopia that will cost the end user far beyond what they need to spend to achieve the very same thing, which is assuming the end user in question was not an intelligent freethinker that realized they did not need to buy into this whole BS to satisfy their aquaristic needs.

Well what does one have to spend to be successful in the hobby? How can you possibly define this and ask of anyone to hold to such a standard?
Some can do it with a few $, some 1000$'s.
$ is not a measure of success.

Many do not want to piece meal things together also.
They come into a LFs, see the set up, and buy it.
If they are cheap or able, they can DIY or use other items etc.

As I stated before, though Takashi himself may be a really swell guy for the most part, the people behind his marketing empire have other interests in mind, and this is obviously appearing to be somewhat of a discredit to him, and not only to me, but to many other intelligent and observant individuals (hobbyists/professionals) throughout the world.

Well you are certainly entitled to your opinion even if it's an anonymous one.

I wish Mr. Amano all the best, as I always have, but I feel obligated to publicly acknowledge that his “entity” in a public capacity needs to be seriously addressed if he wishes to be publicly maintained as a serous asset to the freshwater planted tank community.

I see $$$ items, I figure out ways around the cost and ways to reduce it and simplify things. I ask questions like "do we really need algaicides?" and the like......

Amano helps the hobby and promotes it. He's entitled to make a buck as much as the next person. Penac and some other items in the product line are worthless(and they are more than free to come sue me if they so chose). Some stuff is very useful and nice/worth the cost to many. You cannot make blanket statements about the entire line.

You have to go through and see what is useful and what is chaff. You have to be careful, about your assumptions. I do not get that vibe from the comments you've written, but I've seen and met folks in the past that felt the same as you.

This same type of thinking occured 20-25 years ago with Dupla.
See old post on the APD etc and from that, PMDD grew out of it and various other DIY folks and academics got together figured things out, Cables? They were not a winner. Gas tank CO2 and trace dosing?
They where.

How he does it is his business and while I disagree with him on some things, for the most part most of the aesthetic and focus on plants is good for the hobby.

I'd have a hard time arguing otherwise.
And I think you are on shaky ground here with that arguement.

Obviously there will always be ignorant “loyal subjects”, but please, I am only interested in the advancement of this hobby/art form.

As am I. I do much in the way testing and analysis of products and puzzles in the hobby. But many do not enjoy it, but do not mind the benefits from such information either.

In year's past, there where more folks that did this. The hobby on the web tended to be more academic in the approach. I'm hardly loyal unless such loyalty is deserved and earned.

I assure you that Mr. Amano himself is aware of the concern that I have addressed here, however he is a unique and wonderful individual and will address matters as only he sees fit, and beyond that, in a manner that he actually has control of.

Well you slap him and then prop him up again if effort to appear reasonable.
Chaff.
But your base arguement still has issues.

Need I even address other really truly bogus entities significantly involved in our pursuit? Marc Weiss? Don’t even get me started, as I would surely end up with an ugly lawsuit on my hands sought through American courts, though this would inevitably be futile.
I am a big fan of Mr. Amano, and I am only concerned with his wellbeing in posting this.

Really? Does not seem like it.
SeaChem is similarly evasive about Excel, but I am very loyal to them as it is well deserved. But some items they make I have little arguements for using.

They, like ADA, are trying to make $ and promote what they love.
And they do a good good job at it.

Don't like it? Then stop writing, and start making a line that's dirt cheap and do the research yourself. You act like you can do better, so prove it. Actions speak louder than words.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[plantbrain]

This was a comment extracted from a different forum on this site posted by Bunny13 referring to a staged Amano photograph.
This clearly demonstrates the power that his marketing team demonstrates over mere mortals such as you and me, but if Bunny13 only understood and appreciated the implications of what that photo represented, she may not have held it in such high regard. Granted, it is a great photo, but what exactly went into creating that photo? MUCH more effort than any rational hobbyist would have put into it, and for this reason, does it really hold that much value?

A photo is art.
It's not reality.
That's your own assumption.

Once again a mere mortal is wowed and confused as to how such a supposed work of art could have been created or conceived by a human entity……bogus marketing strategy, my dear, and that many more sales for ADA, bless Takashi’s cotton socks.
Case fortified.

Well, pictures do sell products. Open any magazine.
You state the obvious that is the business world and grumble about it within the hobby here as if Amano is selling out.

Bully for him.
He deserves it.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[plantbrain]

"Once again bear in mind that most middle-eastern/ far-eastern cultures are a good 15-20 years behind western aesthetic culture due to socio-political reasons"

Interesting. Now please cite references to back this up . How were you able to bunch middle eastern culture with far-eastern culture when they are worlds apart?

Slip of the finger I suppose.........poor assumptions about others perhaps?
I think many in the West would assume the opposite in terms of aesthetics in terms of aquariums.

The plastic junk and neon day glow plants? Versus a Japanese garden mimiced in an aquarium?

Such cheesy plastic items are not that common in the East nor the Middle East thankfully.

Just need some plastic fish to match with the plastic plants and decore.
Some like it. I never did as a kid growing up. Some kids do though.

Many in Europe, which is part of the "West" do have nice old gardening styles that are now evolved into Dutch style aquariums dating back at least 60 years, every bit as equal as ADA's nature aquarium method.

Both evolved from pre existing gardens in terrestrial systems: Japanese gardens and European formal gardens. Take a look at both and other similar gardens and you can see the elements all right there. It's not particularly novel, what is novel is doing it underwater with aquatic plants.

Other gardening styles will evolve.

Regards,
Tom Barr