In Idleness Essay

 In chapter two of ‘Japanese Aesthetics and Culture: A Reader’, Donald Keene discusses Japanese aesthetic elements and primarily refers to Kenkō Tsurezuregusa’s ‘Essays In Idleness’ to portray the elements evident in Japanese aesthetics. Kenkō’s ‘Essays In Idleness’ contain Buddhist beliefs, but the most notable idea that run through his work is the impermanence of life. Within’ his works, there’s also a concern of beauty. The concern of beauty is difficult not to discuss as it’s a central element in all of Japanese culture. The characteristics Keene discusses in the chapter are the elements of suggestion, irregularity, simplicity and perishability.

Suggestion is the first of the four elements that is explored by Keene. Although the Japanese do tend to celebrate the climatic moments—most notably the full blooming of Cherry Blossoms—they also love and appreciate things that show beginnings, or suggestions of what’s to come. Things such as barely opened bugs and crescent moons are believed to allow the imagination to expand to the literal facts. It is also believed that Kenkō was probably the first to state it is a principle. Suggestion is widely used in Japanese poetry to convey ideas and emotions. The poet’s joy is never directly expressed in the poem, but is suggested through the poet’s yearning for meeting. Another form of art that utilises suggestion as an element, are the Japanese monochrome paintings. A single brush stroke may represent a branch, whilst many could suggest a mountain range. The predominant use of black and white was also the colour did not dictate the painting, but the so the brush stroke itself did.

Irregularity is another element that Keene points out. In ‘Essays of Idleness’, it is written that “in every...

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...hability is also displayed in their fondness for cherry blossoms. The attraction to cherry blossoms is not their intrinsic beauty, but perhaps it is their perishability. Unlike plum blossoms, which remain on their branches for a month or so, cherry blossoms normally fall after a brief three days. The teamster Rikyū was said to have also scattered leaves over a recently swept garden path, in order to “give it a natural look”, but most importantly to “emphasise the sense of process.” Natsume Sōseki was also struck by the European’s insensitivity to the beauty of change in nature.

Suggestion, irregularity, simplicity and perishability are the four aesthetic principles that Donald Keene have inscribed in this analysis of Japanese aesthetics. The Japanese aesthetic past is not dead and countless works that follows it’s aesthetic principles are still created each year.