# Interview with Takashi Amano



## Pereiro (Mar 22, 2008)

Let me share with you an interview I did to Mr. Amano:

http://acuariorosa.com/2010/04/15/interview-with-takashi-amano/

Best regards!

Óscar


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## freshyleif (Jan 9, 2008)

I can only read your questions Amano's responses are blank.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

freshyleif said:


> I can only read your questions Amano's responses are blank.


Yes, same here.


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## tiffc (Jan 8, 2010)

I was looking forward to reading it! I hope it can be fixed.


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## doubleott05 (Jul 20, 2005)

ya they need to fix that.


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## Pereiro (Mar 22, 2008)

Pereiro said:


> Let me share with you an interview I did to Mr. Amano:
> 
> Interview with Takashi Amano Acuario rosa
> 
> ...


Why Amano remains silent

Best regards!


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## doubleott05 (Jul 20, 2005)

i think my respect level for amano just went down a few knotches. i bet he could spare 5 min from his day to answer your questions. 

im in the army and even i have time to jump on here. 

how unprofessional.

sorry that happened to you Pereiro.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

That's a shame. Sounds like you did all the right things to complete the interview. One thing, unless you know something I don't we need to give Amano the benefit of the doubt since he might not even have known about the interview request.


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## Kamon (Mar 27, 2009)

Ahh. I was looking forward to reading the interview.


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## londonloco (Sep 25, 2005)

Hmmm, kinda makes ya think, huh?


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Yes, I too would like to hear Amano's answers to these questions from him, himself.

But there are answers out there already. Maybe the guy doesn't want to answer exactly because of that. At the end of one interview he said something like "Next time do your homework better before asking questions." I don't know if that's some kind of Japanese humor to conclude the interview or what. 

But I do know that the answers to some of Pereiro's questions are predictable.

Also we can't really expect completely clear answers. Especially if you don't understand how they run their tanks. This particular question: "What are the main differences between the ADA products and the other products commercially available?" makes me smile. It has to do with both ADA's brilliant marketing and the way they run their tanks. Both of these things will most likely lead to a vague answer.

Amano's silence doesn't seem like a beatuful thing at all. But I counted and counted and I found at least 5-1/2 questions, not "5 or less" as the Japanese suggested. More like 10. Still - don't tell me anybody is so busy to not have time to answer 10 questions.

--Nikolay


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## Pereiro (Mar 22, 2008)

niko said:


> At the end of one interview he said something like "Next time do your homework better before asking questions."


That shows how rude it is this gentleman



niko said:


> Still - don't tell me anybody is so busy to not have time to answer 10 questions.
> 
> --Nikolay


My time is as valuable or more than him 

At least He could to send an email reporting that there will be no interview and not keep me waiting all my life

Regards


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## xJaypex (Jul 22, 2009)

niko said:


> Yes, I too would like to hear Amano's answers to these questions from him, himself.
> 
> But there are answers out there already. Maybe the guy doesn't want to answer exactly because of that. At the end of one interview he said something like "Next time do your homework better before asking questions." I don't know if that's some kind of Japanese humor to conclude the interview or what.
> 
> ...


Would you happen to remember which interview it was where he said that? The do your homework before asking questions one.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

xJaypex said:


> Would you happen to remember which interview it was where he said that? The do your homework before asking questions one.


http://www.aquajournal.net

nature aquarium
[stories behind]
cube garden - at the very end

Once again - what he said could be a joke that maybe completely understood in the Japanese culture. What about interpreting the response: "Yes, I will try to do better."?

All of us here are here more or less because of Amano and his work. People from all over the world talk to each other about a side of the aquarium hobby that Amano pushed forward. And because we speak different languages of course there will be an occasional miscommunication.

In addition - the internet is conducive to miscommunication. I personally don't want to see the aquajournal.net dotted with emoticons to clarify the meaning of this or that in an interview...

While on the aquajournal.net site don't just go look for a minor questionable remark. Read the other things on the site. You will probably get a better picture how well developed is ADA's understanding of a planted tank.

 ;-)  
--Nikolay


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## goldier (Feb 13, 2010)

niko said:


> http://www.aquajournal.net
> 
> nature aquarium
> [stories behind]
> ...


There you have it!

Click on the Nature Aquarium tab to see Amano's secrets laid bare in the BASICS subsection, where everything you need to know to set up an eco system of a nature aquarium, fertilizing, dosing, algae control, maintenance, etc&#8230; are written and illustrated clearly. A must read for beginners and helpful to experienced aquarists to understand his works, even without subscribing to the method. The Suikei Data subsection also comments on the low nutrients on algae control, the zero nutrient concept discussed over in the Fertilizing forum lately.

With such useful details available publicly, I don't know what else I may ask Amano-san, except to thank ADA for making the information assessable. Inquiries relating to business natures or trade secrets may not get answered, understandably; or it may prompt a polite response, "Next time do your homework better before asking questions." from Amano-san.

Take it easy folks.


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## Pereiro (Mar 22, 2008)

goldier said:


> There you have it!
> 
> Click on the Nature Aquarium tab to see Amano's secrets laid bare in the BASICS subsection, where everything you need to know to set up an eco system of a nature aquarium, fertilizing, dosing, algae control, maintenance, etc&#8230; are written and illustrated clearly. A must read for beginners and helpful to experienced aquarists to understand his works, even without subscribing to the method. The Suikei Data subsection also comments on the low nutrients on algae control, the zero nutrient concept discussed over in the Fertilizing forum lately.
> 
> ...


with all due respect,

1) Mr. Amano did not invent the aquarium hobby.

2) All their fertilizers are easily replaceable

3) Many of their products are dispensable (bacteria, potions ...)

etc, etc, etc...

But that´s not the question.... The problem here is that if he doesn´t want to answer those humble questions at least he could report to me

sorry my bad english


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## doubleott05 (Jul 20, 2005)

you say take it easy huh?

heres the point (this gets me hella fired up)...

this man did get the plant/aquarium industry moving (but he didnt create it) and inspired lots of people (including me) 
*lots of people look up to him in many ways * and thats y this shouldnt have happend the way it did.
and granted you should do your homework to a point. 
and if you dont wanna respond to a requested interview then just say so.

but on the other hand if his assistant didnt tell him about it or just pushed it to the side then hes wrong for it and shame on him. either way, somebody is in the wrong here and was very rude to do so.

to me being to busy is a crutch/excuse. i work for the us army and busy is an understatment. 
in fact for him life should be hella easy being rich.

i dont care what culture or country your from . Ignoring somebody/group for several months is very rude. Period.

and thats all i have to say about that


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

The aquajournal.net gives a lot of insight but also omits tons of information. I still consider it good to get a perspective.

Unfortunatelly ADA is not active on APC or TPT and we are missing a lot of what they know and do. People need to go out and dig the information from who knows where. Most of them don't like to do any digging and expect ready-made answers. ADA could really, really benefit from that. Instead they have a couple of distributors in the USA, a site with interesting but rather basic information and that's it.

And now Pereiro's experience is like a cherry on top.

It maybe a marketing strategy, or a Japanese culture thing. I still don't like the silence thing.

--Nikolay


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## Pereiro (Mar 22, 2008)

niko said:


> we are missing a lot of what they know and do.--Nikolay


I think ADA has no kept secret: *Just great marketing*

An exemple: Here the results of the composition of ADA fertilizers made in two laboratories by Tom Barr... There is no miraculous substance 

http://acuariorosa.wordpress.com/2009/10/10/composicion-abonos-de-la-marca-ada/


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## tiffc (Jan 8, 2010)

Pereiro, I surely apologize for thinking it was a minor error on the poster's part! I wish you could have gotten the answers to the questions you submitted. As far as the situation, I'm really at a loss for words. If the questions were going to go unanswered, you should have been informed that this could have been a possibility, due to his tight schedule. It seems like you spent a good bit of time on getting the questions finalized to just go unanswered! Thanks for sharing your situation.


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## goldier (Feb 13, 2010)

Pereiro, Amano did not invent the aquarium hobby. He just elaborately took it to another level, with his style, his method. As it is a method of doing thing that achieves beautiful result, which gets him idolatry and unrealistic expectation. And he does not have to answer to anyone. I got used to the silence sometimes when our group communicated with the Japanese counterpart. Maybe they would not rather say ‘No’. Questions seemed disappearing into a black hole….I understand the frustration for the wait. Hopefully ADA sees this thread and forwards your questions to him pronto, although they could at least point you to the journal page at first without Niko doing the favour. What you do expect from marketing?

Ja, wait until you become famous like him.


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## doubleott05 (Jul 20, 2005)

just be cause your famous doesnt give anybody the right to desrespect somebody


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## Rodan (Apr 19, 2010)

Bummer!

:hail:


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## Shad0w (Nov 13, 2006)

Pereiro said:


> I think ADA has no kept secret: *Just great marketing*
> 
> An exemple: Here the results of the composition of ADA fertilizers made in two laboratories by Tom Barr... There is no miraculous substance
> 
> http://acuariorosa.wordpress.com/2009/10/10/composicion-abonos-de-la-marca-ada/


is this data with respect the whole botle? how many ml is the bottle?

what I mean is in Bright K
K+ 68000
Fe 340

does it mean in side 500ml bottle there are 68000ppm of K and 340ppm of Fe?


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## Pereiro (Mar 22, 2008)

Hi Robert


It is mg/liter


In side one liter of the bottle there are 68000 mg of K and 340 mg of Fe


The post of the link is wrotten in spanish:

" mg/litro" = mg/liter


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## Pereiro (Mar 22, 2008)

Shad0w said:


> is this data with respect the whole botle?


Sorry, I forgot to answer this question...

well, They are the most important data... the rest of data is not important...

An example:

Brighty K:

It has Potassium bicarbonate... ie, this fertilizer adds to water bicarbonates... Why this? They say the bicarbonate is good because the ADA´s substrate decrease the Kh. I have to say potassium bicarbonate is much cheaper like sulfate potassium, for example 

This bottle has an anti-chlorine too... 

I recommend visit this link: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilator.php and You know how you will fertilize and much cheaper 

I apologize again for my bad English


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

So do you have any proof that Amano himself know about this interview request. If yes, please share it.


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## Pereiro (Mar 22, 2008)

houseofcards said:


> So do you have any proof that Amano himself know about this interview request. If yes, please share it.


Mr. Amano's collaborator Mr. Endo answered me:

_Dear Oscar Pereiro, Thank you for your e-mail.*Mr. Amano was
interested in your offer. *_

So, there are two possibilities:

1) Mr. Endo lied

2) Mr. Amano knows about this interview request


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

Pereiro said:


> Mr. Amano's collaborator Mr. Endo answered me:
> 
> _Dear Oscar Pereiro, Thank you for your e-mail.*Mr. Amano was
> interested in your offer. *_
> ...


I understand your frustation since you did everything right, but there is a 3rd possibility that Mr Endo as Mr Amano's collaborator has been given the authority to handle these matters and speaks for Mr. Amano. So there are two possibilities that Mr. Amano was never involved. I just caution here since Takashi Amano has been very influential to many in the hobby and you can't really say certain things unless you have definite proof, which at this point it sounds like you don't.


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## Pereiro (Mar 22, 2008)

houseofcards said:


> Takashi Amano has been very influential to many in the hobby .


About that I have no doubt. Amano is an artist and the firm that He represents has a perfect marketing. This is the reason I am so frustration like you said: This interview was very important to me.

Never had any problems of this type in my interviews. There were people who accepted and people who do not. But who did, generosity and kindness overflowed:

http://acuariorosa.com/entrevistas/


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## Shad0w (Nov 13, 2006)

I do not think it is because of marketing. I think it is because of Amano scape work that capture hobbyist. Unfortunately many of this hobbyist miss understand, just because you are using ADA product does not mean your scape will be as good as Amano.


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## gf225 (Mar 26, 2005)

Shame. I bet the questions were excellent too. Maybe 'too excellent'...? 

Can you share the five questions with us, please?

I've been interviewed a few times now. For me it's always an honour and privilege to be able to share my thoughts with the aquascaping community in that kind of format. I guess Mr Amano is a lot busier than I.

Interestingly I submitted an interview to APC over 12 months ago and they have not published it. Oh, the irony!


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## Pereiro (Mar 22, 2008)

Hi George!



gf225 said:


> Interestingly I submitted an interview to APC over 12 months ago and they have not published it. Oh, the irony!


Why not????

While they publish the interview we can read another one 

http://acuariorosa.com/2009/11/09/interview-with-george-farmer/



gf225 said:


> Can you share the five questions with us, please?


Of course:

first question to Mr. Amano, now to this forum:

*You are the leading representative of the Nature Aquarium style. What kind of features or criteria can be used to tell a Nature Aquarium from any other planted aquarium? Which are the tenets or principles of the Nature Aquarium concept?*


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

gf225 said:


> I've been interviewed a few times now. For me it's always an honour and privilege to be able to share my thoughts with the aquascaping community in that kind of format.


+1

Its a shame it wasn't handled more professionally.

Great list of interviewee's Pereiro!!

jB


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## tiffc (Jan 8, 2010)

Great interview with George Farmer, Pereiro! I really enjoyed it. You have a "knack" for good interviews  Thanks for posting the link to it!

Amazing photos of his tanks too, I always like to hear when aquascapers say their favorite plants to work with are the easy ones. It make me think I can achieve a great tank too, using easy plants!!!


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## Pereiro (Mar 22, 2008)

Thank you very much!



Pereiro said:


> What kind of features or criteria can be used to tell a Nature Aquarium from any other planted aquarium? Which are the tenets or principles of the Nature Aquarium concept?[/B]


then, what is a "nature aquarium"? A biotope? marketing again? eep:


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## GWU (Jul 23, 2004)

Hi Pereiro,

I don't know you have a chance to read this interview before, this is the interview of Mr. Amano on last year. From the invitation to get back the answer, it almost half a year. From our experience dealing with ADA and their staff, they are very busy and always out trip. Our question more than a months to reach Mr. Amano because of his trip. After that, they also wait another staff to translate before send back to us, so I am not surprise that you haven't hear from them promptly. 
http://www.cau-aqua.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=285&Itemid=99999999〈=en


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## Pereiro (Mar 22, 2008)

Hi Mr. Gary Wu

yes, I knew this interview, very good indeed.

*I do not mind waiting a year or two.*

Mr Endo wrote this *before he stopped answering my emails*:

_The interview would be had middle of March._

I don´t know how Japanese culture is, but here in Spain we call that: "break one´s word"

Best regards!

PS: It´s an honor to answer one of the best aquarist of the world Mr. Gary Wu.

PS2: Taking advantage that you are here ... Could I do an interview with you?


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