The Moral Dimension of Japanese Aesthetics

Abstract

Japanese aesthetics was first introduced the non-Japanese audience around the turn of the twentieth century through now classic works, such as Bushido (1899), The Ideals of the East (1904), and The Book of Tea (1907), all written in English and published in the United States.' Since then, Japanese aesthetic concepts, such as wabi, sabi, yugen, iki, and mono no aware, have become better known, some even popularized today.2 Some traditional Japanese art media, such as flower arrangement, Noh theater, haiku, martial arts, and, perhaps most prominently, tea ceremony, are now widely studied and sometimes practiced outside of Japan. The authors of all these studies generally characterize Japanese aesthetics by focusing on aesthetic concepts and phenomena that are unique to Japan and different from non-Japanese aesthetic traditions, the Western aesthetic tradition in particular. Meanwhile, recent scholarship in Japanese studies examines the historical and political context during the rapid process of Westernization (late nineteenth century through early twentieth century) that prompted Japanese intellectuals at the time rediscover and reaffirm the character, and sometimes superiority, of their own cultural tradition and values, particularly aesthetics. Some argue that, whether consciously or not, this promotion of cultural nationalism paved the way for the political ultra-nationalism that was the ideological underpinning of colonialism.3 Despite recent efforts introduce, popularize, or contextualize Japanese aesthetics, uncharted territories remain. In this paper I explore one such area: the moral dimension of Japanese aesthetics. I characterize the long-held Japanese aesthetic tradition be morally based by promoting respect, care, and consideration for others, both humans and nonhumans. Although both moral and aesthetic dimensions of Japanese culture have, independently, received considerable attention by scholars of Japanese aesthetics, culture, and society, the relationship between the two has yet be articulated. One reason may be that there is no specific term in either Japanese or English capture its content. Furthermore, although this moral dimension of aesthetic life is specifically incorporated in some arts, such as the tea ceremony and haiku, it is deeply entrenched in people's daily, mundane activities and thoroughly integrated with everyday life, rendering it rather invisible. Similarly, contemporary discourse on morality has not given much consideration this aesthetic manifestation of moral values, despite the emergence of feminist ethics, ethics of care, and virtue ethics. Although they emphasize humility, care, and considerateness, discourses on feminist ethics primarily address actions or persons, not the aesthetic qualities of the works they produce. Japanese aesthetics suggests several ways for cultivating moral sensibilities. In what follows, I focus on two principles of design: (1) respecting the innate characteristics of objects and (2) honoring and responding human needs. Exploring them is important not only illuminate this heretofore neglected aspect of Japanese aesthetics, but also call attention the crucial role aesthetics does