Handbook of Japanese Aesthetics

1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-27869-6
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 412 Seiten, Format (B × H): 174 mm x 246 mm

Reihe: Handbooks on Japanese Studies

This volume functions as an applied reader for core concepts in Japanese aesthetics, each situated in relationship to specific cultural products or aesthetic approaches to the creation of art ranging from Japan’s classical age to the present day.

Opening with seven chapters dedicated to foundational values associated with the traditional literary and performing arts (among them, mono no aware, miyabi, ma, wabi-sabi, hie, yugen, basara, hana and the crucial theme of seasonality), the Handbook proceeds to frame aesthetic discourse through ongoing debates concerning Japan’s antiquity as well as what factors constitute modernity as interpreted through cultural practices (senshafuda), architecture (Ise Jingu), urban landscapes (neon signage and lettering), and major literary or visual art movements. In the latter half of the volume, contributors grapple with pervasive popular culture concepts such as kawaii “cuteness” that evolved from antecedents in the premodern visual arts as well as neoteric notions like itai that have emerged more recently out of modern anime and video game cultures.

Accessible to lay readers and specialists alike, the Handbook of Japanese Aesthetics constitutes a crucial addition to the limited body of scholarship designed to synthesize and explain Japanese aesthetics in practice.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Landeck, Melinda

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Historische & Regionale Volkskunde

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction  Part 1: Foundational Concepts  1. “A History of Mono no Aware: Fleeting Moments that Stir the Heart” 2. “Courtly Elegance in Manga: Understanding Contemporary Interpretations of Miyabi through Chihayafuru” 3. “Ma, from Sengoku to Cinema” 4. “Chill-ing Out in the Tearoom: Hie, Omokage and the Subtle Art of Connection in Chanoyu” 5. “Perception and Appreciation of Nature in Chanoyu” 6. “Wabi-sabi, Modern Art and Enlightenment” 7. “Yugen, Basara, and Hana: Surveying the Tastes of Martial Rulers”  Part 2: Architectural Aesthetics  8. “Jomon vs. Yayoi Aesthetics: Deconstructing a Dichotomy in Japanese Art History” 9. “Ise Jingu: The Architecture of Peace and Sustainability”  Pary 3: Modernizing Traces  10. “Modern and Contemporary Aesthetics in Art and Visual Culture” 11. “Senjafuda and the Re-imagining of Edo Commoner Culture in Modernizing Japan” 12. “Tokyo’s Neon Collage: The Cultural Development and Luxury of Neon Illumination” 13. “The Journey of Modern Japanese Lettering Overseas: Notes on the Aesthetics of Simplification” 14. “The Essence of Tanbi Literature,” 15. “On Beauty and Instinct: Philosophy of Aesthetic Empathy in Japanese Naturalism”  Part 4: Applied Aesthetics in the Modern Era  16. “From Yugen to Yugenism: Translating the Japanese Sublime in Contemporary Art” 17. “Beauty in Shadows: Aesthetics in Tanaka Isson’s Landscapes from the Southern Islands of Amami Oshima” 18. “Artificially Created Fog for Art: On the Aesthetics of Nakaya Fujiko’s Fogscapes” 19. “Kawaii: The Deep Roots of a Modern Aesthetic” 20. Itai: A Modern Material Aesthetic Born from Anime, Manga and Game Fandom” 21. “Dissecting Japan’s National Treasure System: Treasure Surveys and the 1897 Ancient Shrines and Temples Protection Law”

Über Autor(innen)

Melinda Landeck is Associate Professor of East Asian Studies at Austin College, a private liberal arts college in north Texas, USA, where she teaches a wide array of courses on Chinese, Korean and Japanese culture, in addition to the instruction of modern Japanese language.