JAPANESE AESTHETICS: Concepts of Nature

JAPANESE AESTHETICS: CONCEPTS OF NATURE

(Nihonjin no Shizenkan)

The basic meaning of the Japanese word shizen, which is generally used as a translation of the English word “nature,” can also be used the mean “the highest good” or “spontaneous, “ that is, the power of spontaneous self-development and what comes from that power. The kanji for shizen literally can mean, “from itself thus it is.” This suggests and expression of a state of being rather than the existence of some “natural order” of things.

It is interesting to note that the word “shizen” as an representation of nature doesn’t seem to be found in ancient Japanese. The reason would seem to be that the early Japanese people recognized literally every occurrence of nature as a expression of the kami1. Such expressions as ametsuchi (heaven and earth) and ikitoshi ikerumono (living things) seem to come closes to any all-inclusive word for nature.

In Nihon Shoki2 (720 A.D.), the “precursor” deities Izanagi3 and Izanami3 created or gave birth to the Japanese islands and everything thereon; thus, human beings were not superior or in opposition to nature (as in Western religion and thought) but rather directly descended from them; thus, the lives of the Japanese people were deep-rooted into the islands. This concept can be seen expressed in a variety of Japanese cultural forms such as Zen paintings, sumi-e, the tea ceremony and ikebana (flower arranging). In nature, the subject and the object become merged into one reality (which explains the use of various seasonal flowers, animals, sights, etc., in Japanese poetry). It was only in the Meiji Period that shizen became increasingly associated with the Western concept of a “natural order” to things.

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Kami is the Japanese word for the objects of worship in the Shinto faith, sometimes translated as “god” or “deity.” In the case of Izanagi and Iznami, the kami are personified deities similar to ancient Greek or Roman gods. In other cases, such as in matters of nature and natural objects, the spirits that, for example, live in trees or streams, or the forces of nature.

The Nihon Shoki, or The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is also referred to as Nihongi. It begins with mythological tales but continues its account through contemporary events

Recorded in the Nihon Shoki, Izanagi and his spouse Izanami are deities born of the “seven divine generations” in Japanese mythology and Shintoism. The story is generally that these “Gods” bore many islands, deities, and forefathers of Japan.