'BURUK ACI/ HURMA TADI" JAPON SANATI

This a r t i c l e is not about a r t s or a r c h i t e c t u r e of Japan, but several t a s t e s of beauty that are found in things s t i l l considered to be "Japanese", As such i t is not an essay but a chapter of a f i e l d work about contemporary Japanese Culture (soon to be published). In the absence of a s p e c i f i c concept comparable t o Western "Fine Arts", a l l things Japanese display some t r a i t of beauty. P i c a s s o ' s famous reply "Oh, A r t ? . . . What i s n ' t (!)" becomes rather relevant for the culture of,Japan. Hence the scope is limited to topics t r e a t e d here: (1) v a r i e t i es •and adjectives of beauty, (2) p o t t e r y : A noble t r a d i t i o n, (3) calligraphy (brushwork) as a mirror of personality, (4) tea"ceremony as an " e t i q u e t t e " bridging nature and c u l t u r e , (5) origins of l i v i n g a r t s and a r t i s t s , (6) Zen Budizm which is but a thatched roof over a l l other a r t s. I n a d e q u a c i e s i n h e r e n t in such a b i a s e d o u t l i n e have been p a r t i a l l y compensated by t h e ' l i b e r a ! use of p h o t o g r a p h s, p r o v e r b s , maxims, s k e t c h e s , haikus and impressions of the author as a p a r t i c i p a n t observer-. The u n d e r l y i n g theme t h a t emerges may be t h a t the r e a l b e a u t y is found in the a c t u a l b e h a v i o r of a p e o p l e . The n a t u r a l environment and s o c i o c u l t u r a l values merely h e l p to shape or to p r e s c r i be such b e h a v i o r . Japan has no doubt changed and continues t o be changed. Among the r a p i d l y modernizing s o c i e t i e s of t h e world, however, Japan alone d i s p l a y s a deep u n d e r s t a n d i n g of, proximity t o , . a n d r e s p e c t f o r , the N a t u r e . Japan f e l l n e i t h e r s l a v e to Nature, nor did Japan t r y to master h e r — l i k e the Western p e o p l e s — . Their maxim of l i f e has been to be with the Nature and with the t i m e s . In the long w h i l e , They have s u c c e s s f u l ly absorbed s e v e r a l f o r e i g n a r t s and c u l t u r e s . Rather than b e i n g d i v i d e d over, or having to choose between, the old or new, Japan is a continuous p r e s e n t of both old and new! Products change but o v e r a l l purposes and p r o c e s s es remain. Among' t h e p r i n c i p l e s t h a t h e l p e d to achieve t h is unique r e s u l t the following are noted: - Simplicity rather than complexity, - Humanness rather than monumentalizm, - Genuineness rather than exhibitionism, - Naturalness rather than a r t i f icialism, - Humility rather than perfectionalism. And the above p r i n c i p l e s may be r e s t a t e d around the several aes-thetic values of Zen Budism as the Japanese a r t of living; - Spiritual rather than ceremonials, - Creativity rather than morality, - Through beauty rather than a r t i s t r y, - With nature rather than against i t, - Towards self-enlightenment rather than intellectualizm. As l i v i n g examples, a r t f u l p r a c t i c e s —ranging from appreciation of Sansui (mountain-water) to the practice of Ikebana (flower arrangement) and to the building of t e a gardens— have been treated as a continuum with man-made scale of kare-sansui (dry-lands cape) at the center. The taste- for beauty somehow remains a basic n u t r i e n t of Japanese l i f e rather than being a side decoration.