Cultural Concepts
Aesthetics, philosophy, and worldview behind Japanese culture.
65 NOTES
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Kintsugi: Gold-Mended Pottery as a Philosophy of Imperfection
A small ceramic tea bowl sits on a wooden tray. It was broken once, badly — the seams of the break still trace its surface. But the cracks have been filled with gold lacquer, deliberately visible,…
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Omakase: What Leave It to the Chef Actually Contracts You To
You walk into a small sushi counter in Tokyo. There are eight seats and one chef. There is no menu. The chef glances up, asks if it’s your first time, and then begins to prepare food…
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Bushido Meaning: What the Samurai Code Actually Said
Most of what English-speakers know about bushido comes from one book. It was written in 1900, in English, by a Japanese Christian convert living abroad, addressing a Western readership that had asked him to explain Japanese…
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Yugen: The Aesthetic That Makes Beautiful Sound Shallow
Late afternoon in a Kyoto garden. A path turns. The mountain that was framing the view a moment ago disappears behind a stand of cedars. The mist that was wrapping the mountain dissolves into the gray…
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Mottainai: The Word That Explains Japanese Minimalism Better Than Wabi Sabi
If you read English-language writing about Japanese minimalism, the word that keeps coming up is wabi sabi. Cracked teacups. Faded wood. The aesthetic of imperfection. It is a beautiful concept and a useful one, and it…