Blowers Are Fine, I Thought — Until I Wasn't So Sure

This episode follows a Tuesday morning run past Oji Shrine, where a leaf blower working through the grounds sparks a small but genuine question: does efficiency actually diminish a place, or does it simply not matter?The turning point comes from a newsletter by Satoshi Nakajima, who wrote about the shock of seeing leaf blowers introduced at Meiji Jingu — workers in white coveralls, engines running through the forest. His argument was that the value of that place lives not just in the trees, but in the birdsong, the wind, and a particular kind of quiet that only holds together because of the inefficiency of a broom moving slowly through fallen leaves.There's also a broader idea Nakajima raises: that as AI and machines take on more work, it may be worth deliberately identifying what is inefficient but better left to people — because when people do that work, they gain purpose and income, and something is preserved that efficiency alone can't replace.The post doesn't resolve into a firm position. The blower at Oji Shrine still feels acceptable. But the encounter with that newsletter opens a small gap: choosing efficiency without first asking what you actually value about a place might be quietly getting it wrong.A gentle look at how a familiar sight can sit unchanged while something in how you see it shifts — and how the things we overlook often turn out to be the things that matter most.