A Critical Lens / 価値観による評価の違い

　When I was in college, I read a book called The Pleasures of Japanese Literature, by Donald Keene. In the book, he suggests four characteristics of aesthetic taste that have traditionally been important in Japan: suggestion, irregularity, simplicity, and perishability. In order to understand Japanese art and literature, he says, it is necessary to become sensitive to these four qualities. In the west, we have different qualities we look at when we evaluate art, so if we expect to find those qualities in Japanese art, we may be disappointed, and we may miss the qualities that are actually there.

　A good example of this is architecture. The palaces and castles of Europe are often bold, symmetrical, grand, and built out of stone so that they last thousands of years. Some of the best Japanese architecture, however, is quiet, understated, asymmetrical, and built of wood, earth, and even paper - not materials that are meant to last a thousand years! If, however, we looked at a Japanese temple or tea house and said "It doesn't look like a European castle, therefore it's not good" we would be missing a chance to see something beautiful.

　In this sense, education can help us find beauty in our lives. Learning about the criteria with which people create and judge works of art can give us a lens through which we can focus on the beauty which is around us in whatever place we visit.