Japan's Embrace.
Recognizing the spiritual in the material // 素材のスピリチュアルを認識する
This will be obvious to many of you and rather old hat, but I’ve always felt the Japanese have a spiritual relationship to the material world. By this I mean a regard or respect for the tangible that feels intangible or even sacred. “Things” feel as if their very treatment and acknowledgment create harmony with the experience of living. There isn’t a western conflict or war between the “flesh and the spirit” with objects and material goods, nor a guilt or judgment. There is an appreciation and regard if not deification at times. This may sound like a generalization, but anyone who has visited can’t deny the order and care the country runs on. Cleanliness and respect are ubiquitous.
In Japanese culture, it is said that at the end of life an item is “discarded” with respect. One may even go to a shrine to pay respect to the item before discarding it. The respect is not only for the item, but also for the numerous people who had a hand in creating that item. -
One example of this is in the specific admiration and nature of their magazines. Entire issues go on endlessly about subjects that are reverently cataloged. Workwear, cameras, watches, denim, ivy league clothing, hiking boots, vintage fishing lures, etc. etc.
They are collected, coveted and legendary.
An important outcome of this is one of restoration or reevaluation. The book Ametora (How Japan Saved American Style) by David Marx is that very exploration.
Marx looks at the reexamination and resurgence in traditional American men’s wear as a post WW2 phenomena based on scarcity and isolation. The very act of recreating and wearing clothing seen worn by American GI’s found a way to return Americans decades later to those styles long since abandoned. Denim, Button Down Oxford Shirts, Loafers, Chino’s, Etc. Given the world’s globalized state of mergers, acuisitions and closings (Brooks Brothers?) we are at a point where the only authentic traditional American clothing is made in Japan.
In many ways it’s akin to the volley back and forth with the US and UK of the early 60’s. The Mods loving Motown and Brooks Brothers and the music created being loved back again with it’s influence back in the US.
I mention all of this to point to the way in which this relationship with specifics has encouraged Brilliant Corners, it’s scope of interests and my own personal feeling about the art of the object. I am happiest when in the company of the past… found in “things”. In the case of Brilliant Corners as a newsletter/magazine/store the idea isn’t to simply “out know” the competition, but to create a culture of appreciation and gratitude. That’s why we often have nothing to sell or plug or say (frequently) and subsequently point you to people who know better than we do. The joy of the experience or object shall be its own reward.
So browse and appreciate the appreciation of others over the years. The hope is you in turn further appreciate the things you have collected and cherish.
Part 2 to follow - JP
“Ten people, ten colors.”
– Japanese Proverb
