When I was small I loved Lego and used to play with them a lot.

　Of course, it was not only Lego that I played with. Mini-4WD, gunpla (GUNDAM plastic models), and plastic models of castles...all the things I could assemble. I loved creating things, whatever it was. But there was something special about Lego, I think I enjoyed playing with it longer than any other toys.

　When I was a kid, Lego did not have such a wide variety and the design was very simple. My collection of parts kept increasing every birthday and Christmas. I made robots and buildings and took them apart before throwing them back into a big box, so when I started playing again, I could put the parts together from scratch and create a new world. I guess it was somewhat close to the creative mode of 'Minecraft' (a mode in which you can create a world using parts any way you like) if you compare it to the modern games.

　When I was in high school, I learned to play musical instruments, so I was very much into writing songs. As soon as school ended, I hurried back home and produced music on a multi-track recorder. Because I was able to play some instruments, I recorded guitars, bass, drums and made sounds of keyboards and strings with my synthesizer, strengthening my repertoire. After I graduated from high school, I got together with some friends and started making movies. I think I really loved creating something from scratch, whatever it was. That has continued all the way through to the book making (book writing) that I am doing right now, needless to say.

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　Now, being a father, I have more chances of buying my kids Lego. It was easier to choose Lego than other toys because it had this vague but favorable image of "fostering imagination." But I found out Lego now was very different from Lego back then. Of course, you can buy vehicles and robots that have since a long time ago (The models became much more detailed than the old ones, though.) But it is very apparent when you go to the Lego store now, their main products are almost nothing but the character-themed collaborations/tie-ups with Star Wars, Marvels, or Disney.

　The first thing I thought after I had bought them for my kids was that they were very difficult to take apart once assembled, since they have the definite final shape with great design. In fact, at least in my family, once these Lego parts are assembled, they always go to the collection cabinet, and are never taken apart like when I used to play. If I try to put another Lego structure together or disassemble the ones they made, the kids get mad and say, "Don't break it!" These kinds of complicated Lego kits are nothing but elaborate "plastic models," which made me feel like they are an embodiment of capitalism coercing consumption behavior to buy the next products as soon as you complete the ones you have. What you are doing is not some creative action to put the Lego block together freely, but only an imitation of the blueprints you are shown -- as if you were just a subservient consumer deprived of spontaneity and creative ability.

　The company may have felt the repercussions, as Lego also has a series called "Classic." It does not have the exact finishing model, there are many different pieces you can put together as you like, just like the old Lego blocks. Do not get me wrong. I am not trying to condemn "the plastic model Lego" at all. Lego is a toy even adults can get fascinated with. There is no doubt about that. However, I had an impression like above, just looking at modernday Lego from the viewpoint of “rita-ness” – in other words, as things which can foster children's imagination.

　Modern Lego is bipolarized more than ever. On one end, the "finality" is presented, and the replication of popular characters is pursued with the instruction provided like those plastic models. Destruction/creation does not come together. Imagination is deprived. Lego as a product to standardize children's creativity. On the other end, there are no clear goals. It never reaches "perfection," what is pushed forward is the "process" itself. Destruction/creation is repeated. Lego as a thing to induce imagination----.

　However, to say that you have to let kids play with Lego with many simple parts like "Classic series" and not give them the "plastic model type" to foster their imagination is a little too brash. You may buy the "Classic" type so that kids can put them together from scratch. You have a good cause there. But there are many children who do not know how to play without blueprints or instructions—more than you imagine (In fact, when I bought my kids the "Classic," they challenged a little bit then stopped playing with it all together.) There is a difference between the ideal of an adult and the reality of a child.

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　To find the reason why is not the goal here. Rather, I would like to think about how Lego as a thing can be present as rita to foster imagination of the children who are not to keen to create things from scratch. Below is just observations of my three children "playing," and I would like to take up two series of Lego as examples. One series is called "3in1" of Lego Creator, which is comparatively new, and the other is "Lego Mario," which is a collaboration with Super Mario, a very popular character of Nintendo, just released in 2020.

　The former is under a concept to create three models from the purchased set, and looks reasonable for the price. But from the point of view of things and rita, an important point is that it, by presenting three kinds of models with the instruction, builds "bridges" to invite those children who cannot make things from scratch to creativity. It gives them fascination that they can make such different things from the same parts and they would want to play assembling again and again. What is more important, I think, is the fact that this series is made on the premise of disassembling as well as assembling. It is not only about assembling to "completion" like the plastic models. It can also give children the ability to "break them down." I just let my children play with it, then they started deviating from three "model answers." Multiple Lego parts from the "3in1" merged beyond its given theme, and many new things materialized not going along with the final models. (This never happened with the "plastic model type Lego.") Given this kind of step-by-step process, the children were nurturing their creativity with those Lego blocks in the same way as is possible with "Classic."

　Another series, "Lego Mario" is a toy that connects or expands the courses, so at first I regarded them hostilely as an "embodiment of capitalism." However, observing the children play with it adding three or four courses, I noticed they were going through a whole new Lego experience. The series is designed under a concept that you build your own world by assembling multiple Lego blocks. The interesting point is that you can let Mario and Luigi have an adventure on your course holding them in your hands. It is not the virtual world of video games. You build courses in the real world, and the expression and voice on the display would change depending how you place the gadgets or how you move them. You would get coins when you stomp the bad guys or arrive at the goal. The familiar sounds and the voices of Mario/Luigi feed back with the actions. The children's playing hands and the "things" establish an interactive relationship. The children enjoy the adventure with the feedback in the world they created freely on their own, and develop creative fun using every bit of perception possible with hands, eyes, and ears. That gives them such pleasure from their physical sensation.

　Different from the highly sophisticated “plastic model type Lego,” aforementioned two series have something in common. First, they do not end with imitation (completion) of the existing image, instead they repeat construction (creation)/disassembling (destruction) putting emphasis on the process itself. Adding to that, the shape of Lego as a "thing" does not function exclusively to the playing child, but enables physical communication by mediating multiple children.

　Observing them play, I noticed the hand movements and the relationship between Lego and the children were totally different from those when they were playing with "plastic model type Lego." The plastic model type requires you to follow the instruction to find the parts and assemble them according to the model example. The other Legos let you draw your own (original) image each time and you can think about what to put next choosing the part that fits. Since the "plastic model type Lego" has a fixed image of a completed version, it is rather difficult for other children to participate, and when they try to play together they start competing with each other because there is only one correct answer. Also they tend to resent any modification once it is completed.

　On the other hand, with the disassembled blocks of "3in1" or courses of "Lego Mario," they work cooperating with each other (I am not saying they never fight!) and try to create something together more often than not. When those parts mix in ways you never expected, I think we have the biggest opportunity in which creativity is born. A Lego blocks not as a thing connected exclusively to one person (one body), but as a thing that inspires communications in the sense of rita----. We can find potential for rita even within the "things" kids play with in their everyday lives.