Do you know what colored maple leaves and cherry blossoms have in common? The answer is that both are perishable. Their colors, red of maple and pink of cherry, last only for a few days. Japanese people cherish them because of their short lives. Yes, I said “because of”, not
I like walking lively shopping streets in Japan. Those streets look like toy boxes. Unexpected encounters wait for us. In October, I had a chance to walk on this kind of street in early morning. Then I noticed some points which many people do not pay attention to.
Young dancers rehearsing on the stage. Inside/Outside Theater at Jacob’s Pillow, MA Inspiration for: Inside/Outside Relationship, Being in Nature, Art and Landscape, Quietness
What kind of images will you have in your mind when you hear the word, quiet? I have recently been reading the book “Quiet” by Susan Cain, which prompted me this question. My quick search of this word on Google Images showed me, as I thought it might, many images
If you want to find cats in Japan, you would have the best luck by going to shrines and temples. Why? There are two reasons: One is that the shrine and temple grounds are “public” places where nobody stops you to come in, even if you are a cat. In fact,
Do you work at home and feel stressed and enprisoned? Your home should help you. I’d like to share some tips on how you could use it in creative ways to stay well while working at home. I learned these tips over the years from two resources. One is my
If you are forced to stay at home in this COVID-19 crisis, the architecture of your home might seem like the enclosure that stops you from moving. The “Body-Space Devices” exhibition at the Noguchi Museum is a good reminder that it should not be. The exhibition (May 2019- May 2020)
Hashi in motion A secondary concept of Ma is hashi. Generally, hashi means “edge.” The origin of this pronunciation of hashi comes from the Japanese word hashike, meaning a boat, or a barge. Therefore, saying the word hashi unconsciously carries an image of a boat moving between two borders. In this example,
Michiyuki: Traveling and Beyond Being under water blurs the self/space boundary because you are always in motion. Michiyuki, the Japanese spatial concept for “moving self,” means traveling from once place to another. It specifically refers to the space you covered and the time you spent while traveling. But by translating
More than a gate Another Japanese spatial concept that contributes to designing a mindful space is the boundary in motion. One of the Japanese words for this is Ma, which generally means “gap.” The Chinese character for Ma (間) represents a gate made out of two doors with the moonlight coming through.
