Japanese Aesthetics

Japanese Aesthetic

s

Suggestion

Simplicity

Asymmetry

ImpermanenceProcess Orientation

Ma

A/A/A

W

A

B

I

SABI

Wabi / SabiWabi: a philosphy of understatement (less is more) Elegance, since the rococo period in the West, has often been associated in the average person's mind with high levels of decoration, often the result of a philosophy of more is better. The Wabi concept is the exact opposite. Wabi connotes; unpretentious, irredular and imperfect, tranquil and austere.

In the Sabi concept the aesthetic is a melancholy one evoked by rust and patina, the look of things after long and loving use and before age destroys them. Sabi characteristics speak to us in objects containing the richness and the irregularity that time bestows on things which are tranquil, serene, lonely and nostalgic. Garden areas look as if nature had taken over. The patina of age comes best to natural materials - bamboo brush fences, stone, straw, bark and lichen. Time carries all of us away and ultimately destroys all our works, hence the nostalgia and sadness of Sabi.

Haiku is a traditional Japanese verse form, notable for its compressionand suggestiveness. In three lines totaling seventeen syllables measuring 5-7-5, a great haiku presents, through imagery drawn from intensely careful observation, a web of associated ideas (renso) requiring an activemind on the part of the listener. The form emerged during the 16th century and was developed by the poet Basho (1644-1694) into a refined medium of Buddhist and Taoist symbolism. Look beyond the hyperbole of either observation, and there is a powerful element of truth. Traditionally and ideally, a haiku presents a pair of contrasting images, one suggestive of time and place, the other a vivid but fleeting observation. Working together, they evoke mood and emotion. The poet does not comment on the connection but leaves the synthesis of the two images for the reader to perceive.

Suggestion

an old pond

a frog jumps in

the sound of water

spring rain

small shells on a small beach

glittering

blown from the west

fallen leaves gather

in the east

Suggestion / Simplicity / Asymmetry / Ma

Ryoanji

Simplicity / Asymmetry / Suggestion / Ma

Kinkakuji

Adoption

Adaptation

Assimilation

Process Orientation

Ôdaiko

Taiko

Tsuzumi

Shamisen

Shinobue