Yasunari Kawabata

The first Japanese author to have received the Nobel Prize for Literature, Yasunari Kawabata is a name I had regrettably not heard before today. Having read and thoroughly enjoyed his short story "The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket", I purchased his "Palm-Of-The-Hand Stories" - a series of short stories written over the span of his career - and greatly look forward to reading them!

I picked up also the collection of short stories "A Tranquil Star: Unpublished Stories" by Primo Levi (an Italian writer) and "Ecstatic Cahoots: Fifty Short Stories" by Stuart Dybek - an American author whose excellent article "The Surprising Power of Stories That Are Shorter Than Short Stories" introduced me to both previously named writers. In it, he discusses the dual visuality of haiku in their original form, speaks of poetry in fiction, and wraps up the article with the beautiful finishing lines: "Even though we all write on computers now, I still think of writing as words on paper. And when you write a story or a poem, it just illuminates. Meaning shines through words like light through cut paper, beaming out into the night, and projecting its image onto another person’s heart."

Bonsai

A bonsai (盆栽, literally "plantings in tray")is a tree that is carefully pruned and shaped to remain a diminutive size while mimicking the style and shape of mature, full-size trees. The Japanese art of bonsai began in the 6th century, when Japanese diplomats brought back penjing (盆景, literally "tray scenery") from mainland China, though the Japanese repidly developed their own aesthetics for the art.

From Wikipedia: "Generally speaking, tree penjing specimens differ from bonsai by allowing a wider range of tree shapes (more "wild-looking") and by planting them in bright-colored and creatively shaped pots. In contrast, bonsai are more simplified in shape (more "refined" in appearance) with larger-in-proportion trunks, and are planted in unobtrusive, low-sided containers with simple lines and muted colors." (It seems, however, that different regions of Japan developed different styles - by the late 1860s Tokyo and Kyoto had different styles when it came to bonsai, and neither approved of the other.)

In Utsubo Monogatari (Tale of the Hollow Tree, year 970), Japan's oldest full-length narrative (a literary style comparable to the epic), there is a passage that illustrates the Japanese mindset in this point in history fairly well: "A tree that is left growing in its natural state is a crude thing. It is only when it is kept close to human beings who fashion it with loving care that its shape and style acquire the ability to move one."

One has to say, though, that Japanese aesthetics are manyfold and intricate, considered in Western society as more of a philosophy than anything else while within Japan they are considered an integral part of life. A key point of Japanese aesthetics is mono no aware, a concept originated by Motoori Norinaga in the 18th century, which describes empathy towards beauty. In his Shibun Yoryo (The Essentials of the Tale of Genji, 1763), Norinaga describes it as such:

For instance, if a man, viewing beautiful cherry-blossoms in full bloom, appreciates them as beautiful, he is aware of mono no kokoro or the heart of the thing. Being aware of the beauty of the blossoms, he is moved by it. That is, he is sensitive to mono no aware. In contrast, if a man, whatever beautiful flowers he sees, does not feel them to be beautiful, he is not aware of mono no kokoro. Such a man is never moved by the beauty of the flowers. That is to say, he is not sensitive to mono no aware.

In Japanese culture, a main point of life is to appreciate ephemeral things such as the cherry blossoms, and this certainly extends to bonsai, for which there are many rules. These little trees are trimmed and shaped to best reflect wabi-sabi, perhaps the most important of Japanese aesthetic ideals. This ideal concerns the elegance in imperfection, simplicity and age. In art books, it is typically defined as "flawed beauty". Being moved by wabi-sabi is to be sensitive to mono no aware, and I hope you feel a part of these concepts when admiring the below bonsai from the Japanese collection of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum.

Japanese Maple, in training since 1906

Hornbeam, in training since 1935

Japanese White Pine, training date unknown

These miniature trees are cultivated over decades, often more than a century, but I do have to giggle at the phrase "in training since"! An interesting turn of phrase to use for trees. It makes me think more of martial art than the art of careful trimming.

Abandoned Warehouse Photoshoot

Taking advantage of the Schoch Areal in Stuttgart Feuerbach while it remains standing, my friend Criss and I did a quick photoshoot for which I put together several articles of clothing. I'm so happy with the way it all turned out - outfits, setting, and photos, it all looks wonderful! Criss got some really beautiful shots of me, too, which is always appreciated. Here's a sneak peek - check out the full photos on my Behance!

Yamato Nadeshiko - the ideal Japanese woman

Yamato Nadeshiko is a Japanese aesthetic and cultural concept defining the perfect woman. It has its basis in the Confucian concepts of Feudal Loyalty (Li) and Filial Piety (Hsiao), and the main characteristics of a yamato nadeshiko are loyalty, domestic ability, wisdom, maturity, and humility.

“Yamato” is one of the more poetic names for Japan, similar to “Eire” for Ireland, while “Nadeshiko” is the name of a wildflower (Dianthus superbus) native to not only Japan, but also parts of Europe. The kanji for the term, 大和撫子, translate into English as “caressable child” or “wide-eyed barley”. (Not sure how flattering the barley term is!) 

In anime and more, a properly portrayed yamato nadeshiko will have a subtle touch of iron, unwilling to let circumstances hurt the ones she cares about or distract her from her goals or missions. A poorly done yamato nadeshiko will often appear as what tvtropes.org refers to as an “Extreme Doormat”, or a character who is “silent and submissive without the inner strength of a true yamato nadeshiko”. 

Historically, most nadeshiko were noble women with traditional upbringings, and as many came from samurai clans they had some martial skills, typically trained at least in the use of the naginata (a polearm with a slightly curved blade at the end), if not more.

Konoka Konoe from Mahou Sensei Negima!

I found it interesting to go through the examples on the TV Tropes page, and though I didn’t know many of them I certainly agreed with the ones I recognized! Of interest to most people I know would be the mention of the concept in Mulan: “Men want girls with good taste, calm, obedient, who work fast-paced. With good breeding and a tiny waist.” Mulan herself has some of the characteristics of a yamato nadeshiko, possessing the looks and the devotion to her parents, and her core of steel is shown in taking her father’s place in going to war not for glory or any reason but to spare her father’s life and the family honor.

From the anime section I had to smile at the mention of Belldandy from Ah! My Goddess, Hinata from Naruto, Tomoe from Rurouni Kenshin, Konoka from Mahou Sensei Negima!, and several other manga/anime characters; in the literature section I was overjoyed to see a mention of the Protector of the Small series by Tamora Pierce, in which the Yamani women (the Fantasy counterpart culture for Japan) are known for their politeness, stoicism, and carrying weapons that look like decorations (such as war fans, called “shukusen” in the books).

 
Interesting to read in comparison to the concept of yamato nadeshiko is the concept of the "Proper Lady". Mainly retaining a Victorian British mindset, the Proper Lady is gentle yet strong, incorruptible and intelligent, witty and well-mannered, and typically upper class. Examples would be Disney's Snow White, Margaret (Meg) from Little Women, Penelope (Odysseus' wife) from The Odyssey, and Pygmalion/My Fair Lady, which is all about how one becomes a true lady.

Short Definition of Art and Aesthetics

AESTHETICS

“A set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty.” Also, “the branch of philosophy which deals with questions of beauty and artistic taste.”

The definition of aesthetic, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is: of or relating to art or beauty.

 

According to Oxford Dictionaries, an aesthetic is “a set of principles underlying the work of a particular artist or artistic movement”, such as the Cubist aesthetic. As such, aesthetic theory is often divided into branches such as art theory, film theory, and music theory.  

The word aesthetic is derived from the Greek αἰσθητικός (aisthetikos, meaning "sensitive, perceptive"), and had originally been used merely to mean “sensibility” or “responsiveness to stimulation of the senses”. It received its contemporary meaning of “taste” or “sense” of beauty by Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten.

The German philosopher first introduced the concept of good and bad “taste” (and as such, good and bad art) in his book Die Metaphysik. He defined “taste” as the ability to judge according to the senses, instead of according to the intellect.

Originally published in Latin in 1739, his concept received a lot of criticism from other philosophers, including Immanuel Kant, though the latter eventually came to conform to Baumgarten’s usage of the word and himself employed the word aesthetic to mean the judgment of taste or the estimation of the beautiful.

ART

Generally, art (or “fine art”) is when the artist’s skill is used to express his or her creativity, or to engage the audience’s aesthetic sensibilities. 

If this skill is being used in a functional object, it is more likely to be considered a craft rather than art; when the skill is being used in a commercial or industrial way it may be considered design instead of art, though the term “applied art” may also be appropriate. 

Typically, art implies no function other than to please the eye or communicate an idea.

For many centuries it was implied that all art aims at beauty, but art movements such as Cubism and Dadaism struggled against the conception that beauty is central to the definition of art – with great success. 

After the works of such artists as Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol one could believe that “art” is basically a sociological category, and that whatever art schools, museums and artists define as art is considered such regardless of formal definitions. After all, most people didn’t consider the depiction of a store-bought urinal or Brillo Box to be art until Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol (respectively) placed them in the context of art (i.e. the art gallery), which then provided the association of these objects with the associations that define art. 

However, there are other possible definitions, such as that suggested by proceduralists: That it is the process by which a work of art is created or viewed that makes it art, not any inherent feature of an object, or how well received it is by the institutions of the art world after its introduction to society at large. Leo Tolstoy, on the other hand, claims in “What is art?” (1897) that what decides whether or not something is art is how it is experienced by its audience, not by the intention of its creator. 

There are a number of other theories, ranging from the practical (the instrumentalist theory of art, Monroe Beardsley) to the obscure (“Art is an anti-destiny”, André Malraux). In general, one can agree that the definition of art is limited by both era and culture.