🇯🇵 Zen Blossoms: Exploring Japan's Aesthetic Traditions

My current trip brought me to Japan next. I’m so delighted, I completely lost my track of time. I’ve never seen anything like that before. A captivating mix of the traditional and modern, stylish and authentic… In this edition, let’s discover 4 ways of aesthetic experience, including the Japanese language.

IN THE ISSUE

• Japanese

• 3 Classical Japanese Arts of Refinement

  • Shades of Green Tea

  • The Way of Incense

  • The Art of Flower Arrangement

• Bonus: Sakura Blossom Forecast Map

• End Note

Japanese

The level of English, as in other Asian countries (except Singapore), is quite low. On average, only younger generation speak at least some basic English, therefore it pays off to speak at least some basic Japanese.

Japanese is often called a language isolate, a language that has no demonstrable genetic relationship with another language or whose genetic affiliation is not known.

Japanese has an extensive grammatical system to express politeness and formality. This reflects the hierarchical nature of Japanese society and levels of social status. The differences in social position are determined by a variety of factors including job, age, experience or even psychological state (e.g., a person asking a favour tends to do so politely). For example, the pronoun “I“ (私, watashi) has more than 18 forms! The word ございます (gozaimasu) is often added at the end to express oneself politely, but again that is only a small fraction of all possible politeness in the language. The Japanese bow as an act of salutation, reverence, apology or gratitude.

Every time Japanese glyphs come into my view, an innate sense of elegance within me softly whispers… The Japanese writing system consists of three different character sets:

• thousands of Chinese characters, known as kanji (漢字);

• hiragana (ひらがな) – syllabaries used for words without kanji representation, for words no longer written in kanji, for replacement of rare kanji that may be unfamiliar to intended readers and also following kanji to show conjugational endings;

• and katakana (カタカナ) – are used to write foreign words, plant and animal names, onomatopoeia (mimicking a sound) and for emphasis.

Both hiragana and katakana (together: kana) are simplifications of kanji. Kanji is often too difficult for a writer or reader, and kanji is too formal.

Latin script rōmaji (ローマ字) is also used. Romaji is essentially a system of Romanized spelling used to transliterate Japanese.

What would your name look like in katakana? – Check it out with this Japanese name converter.

3 Classical Japanese Arts of Refinement

There are three classical Japanese arts of refinement: kadō (華道, Way of Flowers), kōdō (香道, Way of Fragrance) for incense appreciation and chadō (茶道, Way of Tea) for tea and tea ceremony. These 3 are probably ones of the most aesthetic things I have seen, let’s have a closer look.

Shades of Green Tea

Did you know that matcha comes from Kyoto?

More precisely, processed green tea leaves originate from China. But starting from the 12th century at the latest, in Japan, it developed into the finely ground powder we know today. Nowadays, matcha is mostly produced in Japan. And the best matcha comes from Kyoto. One of the best cultivation regions is Uji, near Kyoto.

One of the primary objectives of my visit to Japan was to immerse myself in the world of matcha. I love it! And I love it not only for being green ;) but for tasting great, having enormous health benefits and still giving a smooth boost thanks to the right caffeine and L-Theanine ratio.

How do you determine if your matcha is high-quality? Generally speaking, it should be thicker and be suitable for both thick and thin tea, should have a bright green colour and should taste less bitter, but sweeter. There are broadly 3 types of matcha:

1. Ceremonial grade – Designates tea for its use in tea ceremonies and Buddhist temples. All must meet the criteria for koicha (濃茶), a "thick tea" with a high proportion of powder to water, used in traditional tea ceremony. Ceremonial is the finest and purest form of matcha.

2. Premium grade – High-quality green tea that contains young tea leaves from the top of the tea plant. It is characterised by a fresh and subtle flavour, best for both new and everyday matcha drinkers.

3. Culinary grade – The cheapest of all and suitable for cooking purposes. This grade is bitterer than the others due to its production from leaves lower down on the tea plant, terroir, the time of harvest or manufacture process.

Speaking of… Tea ceremonies, known as sadō/chadō (茶道, The Way of Tea), are further reinforced drinking matcha as a national tradition. The Way of Tea consists of 4 principles:

1. wa (和, harmony);

2. kei (敬, respect);

3. sei (清, purity);

4. and jaku (寂, tranquillity).

Another term and 4-character idiom Ichi-go ichi-e (一期一会, once in a lifetime) – that describes a cultural concept of treasuring the unrepeatable nature of a moment – can be traced back to the 16th century to an expression by historical tea master Sen no Rikyū. He was one of the first establishers of the Way of Tea and the one who perfected the tea ceremony process. I recommend attending a tea ceremony yourself to dive even deeper into the culture.

• Tea Ceremony Ju-An (Google Maps) – I had a chance to learn the Way of Tea and join other tea drinkers at the Jotoku-ji temple in Kyoto. Highly recommended!

• Kimono Tea Ceremony at Nishiki (Google Maps) – One more tea experience in Kyoto.

Where to enjoy a cup of fresh matcha or buy for later? These are ones of the best tea shops you can discover in Kyoto, these are my favourites. Very often, tea houses have their own house blends of matcha.

• Marukyu Koyamaen (Google Maps) – Marukyu Koyamaen is a highly regarded tea grower, procurer and tea blender located in the heart of Uji, Kyoto. The company’s private tea estate has a rich history dating back to 1704!

• Ippodo Tea Main Store (Google Maps) – a family-run Japanese tea company founded in 1717 in Kyoto!

• Ryuoen Tea Store (Google Maps) – has been selling matcha since 1875. They received a great patronage from the Omotesenke (表千家) school, which was formed by the descendants of Sen no Rikyū.

And the following are my favourite tea houses in Tokyo. I leave it without a comment – just have a look!

• Yamamotoyama Fujie Sabō (Google Maps)

• Takizme (Google Maps)

• 松葉屋茶寮・方舟gallery (Google Maps)

• The Matcha Tokyo (Google Maps)

Here you can find the full “The Way of Tea” Google list.

The Way of Incense

Japan’s art of deep appreciating incense can be traced back to the early days of Buddhism in Japan, more than 1,000 years ago. Kōdō (香道, Way of Fragrance) developed at the same time as the tea ceremony.

Unlike other types of incense, Japanese incense lacks a bamboo core, resulting in a more delicate and subtler aroma. It usually comes either as pieces of fragrant wood or incense sticks. Incense is primarily used to improve mental well-being. A document called “Ten Virtues of Kō” was written by Buddhist monks in the 15th century. The ancient document describes the numerous benefits of kō (incense) perfectly.

Ten Virtues of Kō

1. 感格鬼神 : It brings communication with the transcendent.

2. 清浄心身 : It purifies mind and body.

3. 能払汚穢 : It removes uncleanliness.

4. 能覚睡眠 : It brings alertness.

5. 静中成友 : It can be a companion in the midst of solitude.

6. 塵裏愉閑 : In the midst of busy affairs, it brings a moment of peace.

7. 多而不厭 : When it is plentiful, one never tires of it.

8. 募而知足 : When there is little, still one is satisfied.

9. 久蔵不朽 : Age does not change its efficacy.

10. 常用無障 : Used every day, it does no harm.

Best Modern Brands

• Lisn (Google Maps) – Amazing concept. They manufacture and sell incense sticks as beautiful sets as well as one by one. Shoyeido branch.

• APFR (Google Maps) – This brand got into my top list immediately the first time I heard of it. That is personally my perfect combination of design and quality. Amazing hand-crafted fragrances and unique contemporary minimalistic design. And most importantly, their scents are at a completely different level. What else do I need?

Best Traditional Shops

• Nippon Kodo (Google Maps) – One of the most famous and oldest Japanese incense brands, since 1575!

• Baikundo (Google Maps) – The “youngest” of all and was founded in 1905.

• Shoyeido Main Store (Google Maps) – It is still considered to be one of the highest-quality producers of incense in the world. It has been operating since 1705!

• Baieido (Google Maps) – It dates back to Japan’s Muromachi period. In business since 1657! The techniques and recipes for making incense have been handed down from generation to generation in secret.

• Kungyo Kodo (Google Maps) – One of the oldest incense house was established in 1594! They have been producing premium quality incense for centuries. That just blows my mind!

Here you can find the full “The Way of Fragrance" Google list.

The Art of Flower Arrangement

Ikebana (生け花, arranging flowers), also known as kadō (華道, Way of Flowers), is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. The origin of ikebana can be traced back to the ancient Japanese custom of erecting evergreen trees and decorating them with flowers as yorishiro (依代) to invite the gods. Kyoto again is the birthplace of the art.

Similar to the other classical arts of refinement there are very specific rules when arranging flowers. At the heart of an ikebana arrangement, there are 3 required elements denoted as

1. shin (天, heaven) expressed as the central axis;

2. soe (人, human) as the supporting branch;

3. and tai (地, earth) as branches placed near the base to balance everything.

What is the purpose? The idea is to create a harmonious connection between the natural materials used in the arrangement and the surrounding space. It is about how nature looks like “in a container”. It is about expressing a sense of harmony, balance and the beauty of the nature of things. Only a minimal amount of branches is used, compared to the European-style arrangements of thousands of roses.

Most of the schools adhere to 7 basic principles of ikebana: Silence, Minimalism, Shape & Line, Form, Humanity, Aesthetics and Structure. That actually aligns with my own personality quite precisely.

• Ikebana Museum (Google Maps) – And there also you can find the ikebana shop where you could buy all the necessary supplies for arrangement.

Bonus: Sakura Blossom Forecast Map

As we are now approaching the cherry blossoming season, I want to share a useful website where you can view the forecast map.

End Note

I hope you enjoyed this edition too. The ways mentioned here brought to me an enormous amount of joy. Hope they can do for you! Let me know please what you think by clicking or tapping one of the following options.

Below you can see the Google map with all the markers.

ありがとうございます

📍Tokyo, Japan

— Ilya

The included pictures are taken and text is written by Ilya Gruzhevski and subject to copyright. Copying and/or using without a written approval is not permitted.