and earth; and even feathers are used to represent different types of waves (according to the season). The custom of employing "rare" stones (kiseki) of unusual shapes to represent mountains or other natural phenomena is also followed in these miniature landscapes, or they are used by themselves for the tokonoma. Beautiful natural and often grotesque stones are similarly seen in Japanese gardens and are often depicted on Japanese lacquer ware. Thus appreciation of the natural materials of nature and texture are enjoyed by all classes of society. This important feature is represented in the various handicrafts where lacquer or metal backgrounds were often made to imitate both the appearance of and the texture of earth, wood, stone, or the bark of a tree. Lacquer was even devised to imitate antique bronze or rough pottery (Fig. 4). The appreciation of texture itself was not just visual but tactile as well, as exemplified by the purposefully rough texture of pottery or the stress placed upon the soft rounded feel of an old netsuke. This idea went even further into love of "defects" and "crudeness," including those of nature. Pottery was purposely made with defects in an artistic sense and made to appear artistically "crude." The aesthetically crude appearance of an unadorned old iron tsuba (sword guard) is highly appreciated by the Japanese connoisseur. Defects in the grain of ivory were incorporated into the design of the lid of the tea caddy, and metals were purposely divorced from their regular artificial sheen by use of various patinas and ground techniques, such as ishime. Nature is similarly represented with natural defects and erosions. In painting, specific brush strokes depict special erosions of rocks and landscapes; woods are represented with cracks, worm holes, and decay; and leaves similarly reflect the blights of nature. All these facts combine symbolism and keen observation of nature with consummate artistic mastery and technical perfection.
The Japanese garden and art of flower arrangement, outgrowths of Zen Buddhism, combine the simplicity of Zen philosophy with artistic and symbolic treatment of nature. Every Japanese town has its gardens of chrysanthemums, plum blossoms, cherry blossoms, etc. Similarly, Japanese homes are constructed with landscaped gardens. The reception room always overlooks these gardens, and when the outer doors are removed, the garden becomes essentially part of the house. The garden also forms part of the architecture of the adjacent teahouse, permitting meditation in nature as an integral essential of the tea ceremony (another artistic outgrowth of Zen Buddhism). These gardens are carefully planned works of art and contain natural stones, including irregular, artistically placed steppingstones of different size, shape, and color. Evergreen trees and nonflowering shrubs and moss-covered ground complete the simple, quiet-toned monochrome picture. In the larger gardens, water in the form of ponds, streams, and even waterfalls is employed, but in smaller gardens these are symbolically represented by sand.
The art of flower arrangement similarly represents the Japanese aesthetic method of displaying flowers. This may vary from a single bud in a simple bamboo vase for the tokonoma to a more complicated specific symbolic type of flower arrangement depending upon the season or festival but at the same time remaining complementary to the kakemono. In general, the flowers and branches are asymmetrically arranged and placed basically at three different levels, the tallest representing heaven, the lowest earth, and the middle the "reconciling principle," man. This art, known as ikebana, is taught in nearly all the girls' schools as well as privately by flower masters.
The Japanese home itself also typifies the aesthetic principles of its inhabitants. The typical home is the epitome of simplicity, representing the transience of man's life on earth. Basically it consists of rooms which are separated by movable partitions of folding screens (byobu), single screens (tsuitate), and sliding and removable doors (fusuma). There are also, in lieu of windows, sliding doors called shoji. These are covered with translucent paper, permitting soft diffused light to enter the room. Incidentally, paintings look better in this soft light and lose their subtle shadings (washes) in stronger light. The partitions are removable so that the rooms may readily be changed at will, or a portion removed so as to allow a view of the veranda (engawa), which may be either open or closed, and the garden. No furniture is used except for such items as the mats on the floor, a low table, and built-in wall shelves (chigaidana). An integral part of the house is the tearoom (chashitsu) as well as the tokonoma, or picture recess. The main room or reception room faces the garden and contains the tokonoma and the chigaidana. The tokonoma is basically a recessed frame containing a platform, all of which is constructed of beautiful natural woods. On the wall of the tokonoma is hung a scroll (kakemono), and on the platform sits a floral decoration (ikebana) or some work of art, each chosen, as mentioned, according to the season or holiday festival. In general, the house is built to permit maximum ventilation in the humid summer weather. Also to be noted is the typical asymmetry not only in the house but even in the eccentric placement of the tokonoma and the chigaidana as well as the shelves of the chigaidana itself. The entire house stands in the middle of the garden, which in turn is surrounded by a wooden fence.
The home is uncluttered by furniture, and the woods used for decoration of the interior of the house are unpainted but carefully chosen for their beauty of grain, texture, and color.
The widely practiced tea ceremony (cha-no-yu) involves details of etiquette approaching those of an aesthetic art form. Prior to the actual drinking of the tea, the guests sit in an arbor of the garden adjacent to the small tearoom or teahouse. It is here that one meditates in the presence of nature and divorces oneself from worldly things. The tearoom is also arranged simply according to Zen philosophy. It contains quite unobtrusively woodwork of the finest grains of various natural woods. It also contains a tokonoma from which hangs a kakemono of simple brushstroke painting, or just calligraphy, and an appropriate flower arrangement. Part of the ceremony consists of studying, examining, appreciating, and asking questions about the history of the scroll, the displayed art objects, and the utensils used in the ceremony itself. These include the teakettle, the tea caddy, and other objects used in the preparation and drinking of the specially prepared tea. Such objects are in simple taste and are often valuable art treasures. Even the approved manner of handling these objects of art in the palm of the hand (guarded with the opposite hand and held low) speaks for the loving care with which the Japanese regard fine art objects. The stimulus given to the metal, lacquer, and ceramic handicrafts for use with the tea ceremony has already been noted.
Poetry, calligraphy, brush-stroke painting, and musical dramas are all interrelated with one another and to the handicrafts as well. They all form part of the cultural and aesthetic background of the Japanese people. The children are taught the Japanese katakana and hiragana syllabaries and then the Chinese ideographs. This trains them in the use of the brush as well as in the art of calligraphy itself. Furthermore, it visually and artistically fuses written language with ideographs. It is also training for the accuracy and keen observation so necessary for the Japanese artist. A much-valued scroll may contain just calligraphy, or a picture may inspire a poem which is appropriately written on the scroll. The use of written characters intertwined in a lacquer picture alluding to a poem (waka) was common to both Chinese and Japanese art. Poetic or literary allusions are found in Japanese plays. Poetry reading and composition was popular among all classes of society. In the spring, people would stroll in gardens and arbors and improvise poetry on paper in honor of the wisteria or of springtime and attach them to the branches of the tree so that they would be read by other passersby. Similarly, an old custom consists of parties held for the purpose of viewing the moon, at which time poetry was written.
The various forms of drama revolve about mythology and folklore and are expressed by subtle symbolic mimicry and movement abetted by music, make-up, or masks, and magnificent costumes. The development of mask carving (14th-17th centuries) and stimulation of textile manufacturing can be attributed to these dramas. The popularity of the Kabuki drama was reflected in the ukiyo-e woodblock prints, which commonly depicted the actors and their costumes and headdresses. The costumes and headdresses of a popular actor often became the "rage" of the day. In the Gagaku, or oldest form of court music, grotesque and exaggerated facial expressions contrasted with the esoteric Buddhist sculpture of the corresponding era. The Noh drama, which developed during the latter half of the Kamakura period (1185-1392), was derived from the Sarugaku. The Noh became quite popular among the nobles and upper classes while the later Kabuki drama was more popular among the masses. In the Noh play the principal actor (shite) and the adjunct
