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he beauty expressed in Japanese arts and culture is often very different from that of Western arts and culture. In Japanese art and architecture, poetry, literature, tea ceremony, ikebana and others, there is a noticeable tendency towards simplicity and restraint. Beauty is found in the ordinary, the imperfect, and the everyday; in soft, natural and subdued colours, and irregular shapes and textures. While such works may appear somewhat homely and rough, at the same time they impart a sense of elegance and tranquillity, a kind of ‘unsophisticated sophistication’. Japanese artistic expression often conveys connotations that may seem simple yet are tinged with poignancy; connotations of loneliness, frailty, impermanence or resignation. For example, the true beauty of cherry blossoms is not considered to be in their full bloom but in their ephemeral quality; the fact that in a short time the blossoms will be scattered in the wind.

In this issue of Omusubi, I would like to introduce two key concepts of Japanese aesthetic appreciation – wabi and sabi – that provide the background to this sense of beauty. Leonard Koren suggests wabi-sabi is ‘the most conspicuous and characteristic feature of what we think of as traditional Japanese beauty’, comparing its importance in Japanese aesthetics to the ‘Greek ideals of beauty and perfection in the West’i. Although somewhat vague and difficult to define, I will endeavour to explain the concepts of wabi and sabi here.

Originally, the meanings of neither wabi nor sabi were specifically related to aesthetic qualities, however these developed over time. Wabi is derived from the verb wabu (to languish) and the adjective wabishii (lonely, comfortless)ii. The original meaning of sabi is ‘rust’ or ‘patina’iii, but it also connotes loneliness and desolationiv as refl ected in the adjective sabishii (lonely), particularly with reference to old age. Wabi tends to be more philosophical in usage, referring to a reclusive way of life, ‘free from worldly concerns’ and associated with povertyv. In comparison, sabi is more objective and usually refers to material objectsvi. In practical terms, both words may overlap and be interchangeable, although there are subtle, nuanced differences. For the purposes of this article they will essentially be treated together.

The development of the wabi-sabi aesthetic began in earnest during the Kamakura Period (1185-1333) coinciding with the spread of newer schools of Buddhism, in particular the school of Zen. Zen ideas about transcending the mundane world and conventional ways of looking at things - through concepts like emptiness, impermanence and renunciation - inspired a kind of appreciation of ‘negative’experiences such as old age, poverty and loneliness. Hermits, priests and poets leading a solitary wandering life in search of spiritual insight incorporated this sense of appreciation in their works and teachings. As these ideas gained momentum, people tried to resign themselves to the sufferings of life and began to see a kind of beauty in them. Expressed in artistic forms, this in turn evolved into the aesthetic appreciation of wabi-sabi.

The development of the tea ceremony in the 16th century marks another important step in the evolution of wabi-sabi. Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591), credited with establishing the tea ceremony in its current form, was also infl uential in establishing wabi-sabi as an aesthetic concept. He extolled the use of simple, indigenous homestyle tea utensils over the expensive and highly decorative tea utensils imported from China, placing objects expressing wabi-sabi at the pinnacle of aesthetic appreciationvii. Initially, these new aesthetics could only be ‘discovered’, in the humble utensils used by the common people, or in a neglected stone lantern overgrown with mossviii. However, in time works were intentionally created to refl ect

wabi-sabi, for example, raku earthenware tea bowls or the design of the tea-house, which took on the style of a simple rural hut, with space inside for only two tatami mats (around 3.5m2) or lessix.

There are numerous anecdotes about Sen no Rikyu that illustrate his sense of wabi-sabi. For example, when a disciple swept the garden completely clear of leaves, Rikyu admonished him saying he did not know sabi and shook a branch to provide a scattering of leavesx. On another occasion he made no comment on a prized tea caddy which a teamaster had specially selected to serve tea to him. Offended by this, the teamaster smashed the caddy. However it was skilfully glued back together and used on another occasion to serve tea to Rikyu. This time, recognising the caddy, Rikyu commented that it had become a piece of wabixi.

Although wabi-sabi became the essential spirit of the tea ceremony, it also appears extensively in other Japanese art forms. It is particularly demonstrated in poetry. The following waka poem by Fujiwara no Teika (1162-1241) was used by Sen no Rikyu as an illustrative example:

All around, no fl owers in bloomNor maple leaves in glare,A solitary fi sherman’s hut aloneOn the twilight shoreOf this autumn eve.xii

Almost a century after Rikyu, the wabi-sabi aesthetic was further developed in haiku (short poems in the pattern of 5-7-5 syllables), especially by the haiku-master Matsuo Basho (1644-1694). Basho’s very lifestyle could be said to embody wabi-sabi, as he travelled the length and breadth of Japan with just a few possessions, staying in simple lodgings, appreciating nature and the everyday situations he found himself inxiii. He encouraged the cultivation of wabi-sabi aesthetics in the poems of his students and is said to have found sabi in this haiku of his disciple Kyorai Mukai:

Two blossom-watchmenWith their white heads togetherHaving a chat.xiv

From these times onwards, wabi-sabi has permeated Japanese aesthetics and while it may not be obvious in modern Japan, nevertheless the infl uence of wabi-sabi is there. One contemporary example is the work of fashion designer Rei Kawakubo, of Comme des Garçons, whose ‘new poor look’xv in her early collections consisted of ripped and incomplete garments. The prevalence of black and subdued, dark tones in both Kawakubo and fellow Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto’s work in the early eighties is also attributed to wabi-sabi xvi.

I hope you have gained some understanding of wabi-sabi from this article. Next time you view Japanese works of art or cultural activities, whether traditional or contemporary, please bear in the mind the ideas of wabi-sabi and appreciate at a deeper level the subtlety of Japanese beauty.

i Koren, L., Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, Stone Bridge Press: Berkeley, California 1994, p. 21.

ii ‘Wabi’ in Kodansha’s Encyclopaedia of Japan CD-Rom, Kodansha International: Tokyo, 1999.iii Itoh, T. ‘The Essence of Japanese Beauty’ in Itoh, T. et al (ed), Wabi Sabi Suki: The Essence of Japanese Beauty,

Mazda Motor Corporation: Hiroshima 1993, p. 7.iv ‘Sabi’ in Kodansha’s Encyclopaedia of Japan CD-Rom, Kodansha International: Tokyo, 1999.v Koren, op. cit., p. 23; ‘Wabi’ op. cit.; Suzuki, D.T., Zen and Japanese Culture, Tuttle: Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo

1991 3rd edn (1959), p. 23.vi Koren, op. cit., p. 23.; Suzuki, op. cit., p. 284.vii Koren, op. cit., pp. 32-33.viii Itoh, op. cit., pp.17-8.ix Koren, op. cit., p.33; Itoh, op. cit., pp. 18-19.x There are several versions of this story. One appears in Suzuki, op. cit., p. 322.xi Suzuki, op. cit., p. 323.xii Translation by T. & T. Izutsu in Koren, op. cit., p. 55.xiii Suzuki, op. cit., p. 254.xiv ‘Sabi’ op. cit.xv Martin, R., & Koda, H., Infra-apparel, Abrams: New York 1993, quoted in review by Cleaver, K., Ryerson

Polytechnic U., Toronto at http://amdt.wsu.edu/classes/salusso/MediaWebsite/07historiccostume/socpsychinfl uence.htm (viewed 21/4/05).

xvi Fukai, A., ‘Black and White – A Japanese Contribution to the World of Fashion’ in Nipponia No.4 1998, Heibonsha: Tokyo, at http://web-japan.org/nipponia/nipponia4/sp05.html (viewed 3/6/05).

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Omusubi is published and distributed by The Japan Foundation, Sydney. Please forward all correspondence to:The Editor, Omusubi, The Japan Foundation, Sydney, Shop 23, Level 1, Chifl ey Plaza, 2 Chifl ey Square, Sydney, NSW 2000, AustraliaTEL: (02) 8239 0055 FAX: (02) 9222 2168 EMAIL: omusubi@jpf.org.au WEBSITE: http://www.jpf.org.au The Japan Foundation, Sydney accepts no responsibility for the content of advertisements appearing in Omusubi . Products or services being advertised are not to be taken as being endorsed by the Japan Foundation, Sydney.© Permission must be sought from The Japan Foundation, Sydney for reproduction of any material in this newsletter, with the exception of “Sensei’s Pages” (pp. 7 - 10) which may be reproduced without permission for strictly educational and non-profi t use only. ISSN 1832-0341

Wabi-SabiThe Essentials of Japanese Aesthetics By Catherine Maxwell (Editor)

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