と (omission?) ・ ～している (state?)

[raikado]

Hello,

1) I was looking in the dictionary for the definition of たずねる and I am not sure of its usage of と.
物事のおおもとなどを明らかにしようと調べたり考えたりする。「日本語の起源を―・ねる」「真理を―・ねる」
Is there something omitted there (like 明らかにしようとして)?

2) These are few sentences from Erin's challenge. It's a short presentation about 温泉 and 旅館 with images, and under each image there is some text.
写真解説｜見てみよう｜第11課. After you click the link select the middle image from the 4th row starting from the bottom. I'll also post a screenshot with the text for convenience.

Spoiler: Image

Text: 和食は季節感を大切にします。柿のみを使って器にしています。柿の下にも、紅葉した柿の葉を使って、秋らしくかざっています。

a) These ～ています all represent the resulting state after the action has been done, right?

b) I'm not sure how to phrase this...so please excuse me in advance if the question is not understandable.
Who's state is being talked about in those 2 sentences?
I mean, in a sentence like 道に財布が落ちている。 we describe the state of the wallet. But I don't think the above sentences describe the state of the persimmon/autumn leaf, since they can't be the subject of the sentence. Therefore, do the sentences simply describe the state represented by the picture?

 

[Toritoribe]

1)
Not really. The meaning is the same as として, though.

2) a)
Yes.

b)
The subject is the chef, or the hotel/inn. If it's 柿の実が使われて器になっています。柿の下にも、紅葉した柿の葉が使われて、秋らしくかざられています。, the subjects are persimmon and autumn leaf/the dish.

 

[raikado]

1) Thanks. Is it the normal conditional と then?: 二つの動作・作用がほとんど同時に、または継起的に起こる意を表す

2) b) Can we compare the modified sentences with the original ones to see where the focus is in each one?

柿の実が使われて器になっています。 In this sentence, the focus is clearly on 柿の実 since it is the subject.

（シェフが）柿の実を使って器にしています。If we follow the same logic as above, then the chef (or his actions) should be the focus. Something like "the chef used a persimmon fruit and made it into a bowl and because of his actions this is the resulted state". I simply found this a little odd, since I expected the text's focus to be on the served food and not on the chef (or the hotel, as you wrote), but now that I typed this I can see that it wouldn't be that unusual.

So is my second interpretation correct?

 

[Toritoribe]

1)
"The volitional form + と" shows the purpose of the action.
e.g.
タクシーを止めようと手をあげた。

2)
Those are examples of 和食は季節感を大切にします, and that's the reason why the chef/hotel 器にする or 秋らしくかざる.

 

[raikado]

Thank you for explaining these! Especially for the second one, since even I wasn't sure where my misunderstanding was.