stairs crimson carpet
old bones groaning as they climb -
winter gust deceds
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
AN AUTUMN UKIYO-E
An Autumn Ukiyo-e
Here is an ukiyo-e for autumn. It is from "Azuma Fuzoku Nenju Gyoji" or "customs and Manners of Yearly Events at Eastern Capitol" for the month of October (Jugatsu), by Chikanobu Toyohara (1838-1912). This print from about 1890 shows a mother and her little child holding a red balloon while they enjoy an Autumn day together.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
JAPANESE AESTHETICS: Bigaku
JAPANESE AESTHETICS (Bigaku)
A characteristic feature of long-established aesthetics within Japan is the inclination to value symbolic portrayal more highly than realistic representation. Another trait is the assumption that true art involves a selective presentation of the beautiful and skirting of the humble and vulgar. As a result, artists have tended to choose nature for their subjects, thus shunning the portrayal of everyday life for the ordinary people. The taste for grace and elegance by the Heian court exerted a lasting effect on later cultural traditions, and established elegance as one of the main standards for beauty. Such important notions as okashi, fūryū, yūgen, and iki all carried a nuance of elegance.
Another highly valued attribute was impermanence, which could be considered a variation of elegance, for delicate beauty was considered fragile and ephemeral. Buddhism, with its emphasis on life’s uncertainty, merged with this ideal and provided a certain “philosophical” depth. Such aesthetic values are aware, mono no aware, yūgen, wabi, and sabi all thus implied transience.
An artistically created empty space, either in time or in space, became an important idea in aesthetic practices. Simplicity fit together with the concept of mimesis, which stressed symbolic depiction. Concepts like wabi, sabi, ma, yojō, and shibui were all oriented toward simplicity in their basic inferences, consistently showing distaste for rich or ornamental beauty.
Simplicity also means “naturalness,” or a lack of pretension, in artistic expression. In traditional Japanese aesthetics the gap between art and nature is considerably shorter than in the West. The mystery of nature could never be presented through description; however, it could only be suggested and the more brief the suggestion, the greater its success.
Another highly valued attribute was impermanence, which could be considered a variation of elegance, for delicate beauty was considered fragile and ephemeral. Buddhism, with its emphasis on life’s uncertainty, merged with this ideal and provided a certain “philosophical” depth. Such aesthetic values are aware, mono no aware, yūgen, wabi, and sabi all thus implied transience.
An artistically created empty space, either in time or in space, became an important idea in aesthetic practices. Simplicity fit together with the concept of mimesis, which stressed symbolic depiction. Concepts like wabi, sabi, ma, yojō, and shibui were all oriented toward simplicity in their basic inferences, consistently showing distaste for rich or ornamental beauty.
Simplicity also means “naturalness,” or a lack of pretension, in artistic expression. In traditional Japanese aesthetics the gap between art and nature is considerably shorter than in the West. The mystery of nature could never be presented through description; however, it could only be suggested and the more brief the suggestion, the greater its success.
(First published 2008.09.16. Copyright 2006 by Hayato Tokugawa. All Rights Reserved)
SOME USEFUL HAIKU TERMS
SOME USEFUL HAIKU TERMS
MORA
Mora (plural is morae) is a unit of sound used in the study of words that determines the weight of syllables and thus their stress and/or timing, in some languages such as Japanese. The term meaning “period of time” comes from Latin meaning a pause or a delay. A syllable containing one mora is said to be monomoraic, two is bimoraic. Generally, monomoraic syllables are said to be “light syllables,” bimoraic syllables are said to be “heavy syllables” and trimoraic syllables are said to be “super-heavy syllables.”
Japanese is famous for its moraic qualities. Most dialects including Standard Japanese use moras (or morae) as the basis of the sound system rather than syllables. For example, in modern Japanese haiku, one does not always follow the pattern 5 syllables/7 syllables/5 syllables as is commonly believed, but rather the pattern 5 moras/7 moras/5 moras. As just one example, the Japanese syllable-final n is moraic.
KIGO
Season words or Kigo (季語) are words or phrases that are generally associated with a particular season. They were originally used in the longer “linked-verse” form known as renga, and especially in the opening phrase of a renga, the hokku, to indicate the season when the stanza is set. The are valuable in providing an economy of expression (extremely important I have recently learned) for haiku to indicate the season in which the poem is set.
HISTORY OF KIGO
Representation of and reference to the seasons has always been important in Japanese culture and poetry. Japan is, of course, long from north to south so seasonal features can vary from place to place. The sense of a season in kigo is; however, based on Kyoto since classical Japanese literature was developed mainly in this region, especially up to the early part of the Edo Period.
Some examples are (for spring)” “spring begins” (haru tatsu), “warm” (atakakashi or nurumu”, spring haze (kasumi).
I am told that many Japanese haiku poets often use a book called a saijiki, which is a dictionary for kigo. An entry in a saijiki might include a description of the kigo itself plus a list of similar or related words, plus a few examples of haiku that included that kigo. The saijiki is divided into the four seasons plus there is a list for “season-less” or “muki” words.
Mora (plural is morae) is a unit of sound used in the study of words that determines the weight of syllables and thus their stress and/or timing, in some languages such as Japanese. The term meaning “period of time” comes from Latin meaning a pause or a delay. A syllable containing one mora is said to be monomoraic, two is bimoraic. Generally, monomoraic syllables are said to be “light syllables,” bimoraic syllables are said to be “heavy syllables” and trimoraic syllables are said to be “super-heavy syllables.”
Japanese is famous for its moraic qualities. Most dialects including Standard Japanese use moras (or morae) as the basis of the sound system rather than syllables. For example, in modern Japanese haiku, one does not always follow the pattern 5 syllables/7 syllables/5 syllables as is commonly believed, but rather the pattern 5 moras/7 moras/5 moras. As just one example, the Japanese syllable-final n is moraic.
KIGO
Season words or Kigo (季語) are words or phrases that are generally associated with a particular season. They were originally used in the longer “linked-verse” form known as renga, and especially in the opening phrase of a renga, the hokku, to indicate the season when the stanza is set. The are valuable in providing an economy of expression (extremely important I have recently learned) for haiku to indicate the season in which the poem is set.
HISTORY OF KIGO
Representation of and reference to the seasons has always been important in Japanese culture and poetry. Japan is, of course, long from north to south so seasonal features can vary from place to place. The sense of a season in kigo is; however, based on Kyoto since classical Japanese literature was developed mainly in this region, especially up to the early part of the Edo Period.
Some examples are (for spring)” “spring begins” (haru tatsu), “warm” (atakakashi or nurumu”, spring haze (kasumi).
I am told that many Japanese haiku poets often use a book called a saijiki, which is a dictionary for kigo. An entry in a saijiki might include a description of the kigo itself plus a list of similar or related words, plus a few examples of haiku that included that kigo. The saijiki is divided into the four seasons plus there is a list for “season-less” or “muki” words.
(First published 2008.09.16.) Copyright 2006 by Hayato Tokugawa. All Rights Reserved)
Swordman - Dai Chikamatsu Zenshu
Swordman - Dai Chikamatsu Zenshu
I came across this ukiyo-e today and thought that I would share it with everyone. It is by Yamaguchi Sohei and dates to about 1923 to 1926. What I find rather striking about this print is the expression on the samurai's face - not the fierce look or even glee that one would see in an old movie with Mifune Toshiro, but something else - anguish, horror? What do you think?
(First published 2006.09.14.)
THOUGHTS FROM A TAKAYAMA ROOFTOP: Is Globalization Changing Japan (Part 2)
IS GLOBALIZATION CHANGING JAPAN (PART 2)
The book everyone was talking about last month at the first World Economic Forum (WEF) ever held in Tokyo was not Thomas Friedman's The World Is Flat, or some other volume on globalization. It was a slim Japanese volume called The Dignity of a State. Written by mathematician Masahiko Fujiwara, the book is seemingly a longing call to return to ancient Japanese virtues. But it's also a sharp, angry outburst that blames free markets for a wide assortment of Japan's and the world's woes. "Globalism," Fujiwara writes, "is merely a strategy of the U.S. that seeks world domination after the Cold War." The author also calls the market economy "a system that clearly divides the society into a minority of winners and a majority of losers." WEF members, most of them advocates of free markets and open economies, might want to reject Fujiwara as part of the radical fringe of vocal anti-globalization protesters. But the book has touched a nerve in Japan, where many feel economic reforms are destroying the country's egalitarianism, creating a nation of haves and have-nots.
The book everyone was talking about last month at the first World Economic Forum (WEF) ever held in Tokyo was not Thomas Friedman's The World Is Flat, or some other volume on globalization. It was a slim Japanese volume called The Dignity of a State. Written by mathematician Masahiko Fujiwara, the book is seemingly a longing call to return to ancient Japanese virtues. But it's also a sharp, angry outburst that blames free markets for a wide assortment of Japan's and the world's woes. "Globalism," Fujiwara writes, "is merely a strategy of the U.S. that seeks world domination after the Cold War." The author also calls the market economy "a system that clearly divides the society into a minority of winners and a majority of losers." WEF members, most of them advocates of free markets and open economies, might want to reject Fujiwara as part of the radical fringe of vocal anti-globalization protesters. But the book has touched a nerve in Japan, where many feel economic reforms are destroying the country's egalitarianism, creating a nation of haves and have-nots.
The Dignity of a State has sold 2 million copies since last November, making it Japan's second best-selling title of 2006. (It trails only the latest Harry Potter installment). A grassroots backlash against reform in the world's second largest economy is worrying to some WEF delegates. "This book's popularity is not a positive development," says Charles D. Lake II, vice chairman of AFLAC Insurance in Japan. But it is an important one. Despite Japan's much-heralded success in modernizing its economy, the fact remains that a large segment of Japanese society loathes the way things are heading.
In summary:
In summary:
“Globalism,” Fujiwara writes, “Is merely a strategy of the U.S. that seeks world domination after the Cold War.” The author also calls the market economy “a system that clearly divides the society into a minority of winners and a majority of losers.” According to Time Magazine, the book’s popularity is fed by a popular response in Japan that sympathizes with the notion that “economic reforms are destroying the country’s social equality, creating a nation of “haves” and “have- nots".
Another review of the book says that according to the author, Japan’s distinguishing “national character” is a set of behavior standards based on the spirit of Bushido, the samurai code of honor. That spirit, he writes, was shattered by Japan’s defeat in World War II and completely abandoned after the collapse of the assist-inflated “bubble economy of the 1990s. Japanese society is now set to fall into ruin, the author continues. Ideas that Japan eagerly accepted along with “Americanization,” such things as the market –oriented principle of economics, do not offer a solution to the problems facing the nation. Rather, emotion and empathy form the basis of Japanese civilization and Bushido is the core of ethics. Japan should not aim to be a universal country, but a unique and dignified one.
According to what I have been able to read about Fujiwara-san and his book, he believes that Japan should return to Bushido because capitalism has destroyed Japan. As usual (I guess he is referring to Tokugawa and Meiji eras), “evil foreign devils” and their ideas have damaged the purity of Japan and the Japanese people.
I would be very interested to get anyone’s opinion on this topic, especially if you are familiar with this book and have similar or differing viewpoints.
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