About Project IZANAGI
Why this exists — a note from the creator
Hi, I’m Yuji Fujinami (I also post as Mt.Toufu), an engineer based in Japan and the creator of Project IZANAGI.
A quick note upfront: this service was built solo, across a language barrier — Japanese on my side, English on yours. I’d rather ship imperfect and honest than wait to be polished.
I originally built this as a Japanese-only service. But as I researched the topic further — asking LLMs, reading studies, watching how other countries were responding — it became clear that this isn’t a Japanese problem. The platforms, the mechanics, the design patterns are the same everywhere. So I rebuilt it in English for families outside Japan too.
Why did I care enough to rebuild it?
Because I’ve been on the receiving end of these designs myself.
A few years ago, I used to line up outside pachinko parlors on weekend mornings, chasing the next dopamine hit. When I sold my used car, a salesperson used a classic pressure tactic — “only right now can I offer this price” — and I accepted, not because the deal was bad, but because the manipulation worked. Late at night, when I should have been sleeping, I kept scrolling Instagram, watching the same kind of videos on repeat.
At some point I realized: all of this was engineered. Behavioral economics and behavioral psychology are the blueprints behind pachinko floors, car sales scripts, and every “just one more video” feed. Learning this didn’t make me immune. But it gave me pauses — small moments where I could ask myself, “wait, is this me, or is this the mechanism?”
When I saw reports about countries moving to regulate smartphones for children, I wondered: do families actually know what they’re up against? Because if they don’t, their brains are being targeted by the world’s best persuasion designers — every day, with no defense in place.
Knowing doesn’t give you perfect protection. But it gives you the option of choosing.
That’s why Project IZANAGI exists. Not as treatment. Not as a willpower coach. Just as a shield of knowledge against systems engineered to bypass one.
I’m one person, and this is early. If something feels off, or you want to tell me what’s working (or not), please write to me directly at info-izanagi@namiflow.jp. I’m slow in English, but I read every email and reply to them all.
— Yuji Fujinami (Mt.Toufu)
Why “understand” rather than “ban”?
Australia made headlines in late 2024 as the first country to ban social media for children under 16. Canada, the UK, and others are moving in similar directions. These are serious policy responses to a real problem, and we respect them.
Project IZANAGI takes a different — and we believe complementary — approach: teach families how the mechanics actually work, so they can make informed choices.
A ban can keep a child off a specific platform. Understanding can follow them everywhere — across platforms, across countries, across decades.
We’re not arguing against regulation. We’re arguing for adding literacy alongside it. A child who understands why infinite scroll is designed to be hard to stop will carry that awareness into adulthood, long after any specific law has changed.
This service is not a substitute for parental guidance, school policies, or national law. It’s a tool families can use in parallel — to turn “because I said so” into “here’s exactly how the trick works.”
Why each lesson is under 7 minutes
“Seems short” is a natural first reaction. Here’s our honest reasoning:
- Completion matters more than length.Even the best content is worthless if it’s abandoned halfway. We designed for a length people can actually finish.
- Density, not duration. Understanding design tricks requires clear explanation and hands-on experience, not padding.
- The format matches the message.A service teaching people to spot manipulative design shouldn’t inflate perceived value with length.
- Short content invites revisiting.Understanding deepens through repetition. Within 7 minutes, re-watching feels effortless — the spacing effect in action.
Understanding removes blame
When a child can’t stop scrolling or playing, it’s tempting to blame their willpower. But apps and games are engineered around fundamental human drives — need for approval, loss aversion, dopamine anticipation. Falling for these patterns is simply being human.
They can’t stop because it was designed to be unstoppable.Once you see the mechanism, anger gives way to understanding. That’s what this service is really about.
Knowledge isn’t a perfect shield — but it helps
Daniel Kahneman, one of the founders of behavioral economics, admitted that decades of studying biases didn’t make him immune to them. Knowing isn’t the same as being protected.
But the frequency of pauses — moments where you think “wait, am I falling for this right now?” — goes up. Those small moments compound. When a family starts saying “hey, that’s a trick” to each other, the relationship with social media and in-app purchases naturally shifts.
Research foundations
- Prospect Theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979)
The foundation for loss aversion and FOMO. Limited-time sales and “only a few left” notifications are built on this.
- Operant Conditioning (B.F. Skinner, 1938)
Variable reward schedules — the theory behind dopamine loops in social media feeds and gacha mechanics.
- Social Proof (Robert Cialdini, 2001)
Why review counts, popularity indicators, and “X people bought this” signals work so well.
- Inoculation Theory (William McGuire, 1961)
The educational approach of this service — building resistance to persuasion by understanding it in advance.
Education, not treatment
This service is educational content about persuasive design. It does not provide treatment, diagnosis, or counseling for addiction. If you have serious concerns about your child, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Welcome to Project IZANAGI.
In Japanese mythology, Izanagi is the deity who chose, by his own will, to step out of a world from which there was no escape.
We hope you and your family, armed with an understanding of how these design tricks work, will step out of the loop on your own terms.