In Praise of Shadows (1933)

I thought this was a fascinating read. It discusses light and shadow in a special way, unlike anything I've read before. As Tanizaki points out, we in the West seek to capture light and bring it into our spaces, and banish shadow. In Tanizaki's nostalgic view, Japanese aesthetics embrace the shadow and work with it, rather than against it, to create masterpieces of art, architecture, and theater.

I have never thought about the contrast between my father's mother, carefully polishing the Sunday silverware every month so that it would shine brilliantly on the dinner table, and my mother's mother, who proudly displayed her subtly glowing jade pieces on the table. (Born and raised in Los Angele's Chinatown, my Chinese grandmother nevertheless picked up the American taste for polished metalwares, but her fondness for wooden, worn-looking chopsticks and milky jade was preserved and passed down to me.) One woman always sought to make preserve objects as shiny and new; the other treasured the history of her pieces.

I'm not sure that Tanizaki's theory on race and beauty quite plays out, but I have to admit I've never read such an idea before. I don't know that Caucasian skin is truly more 'pure' and that yellow Asian skin is 'polluted' by a cloudiness, but it's interesting, and casts a complementary shadow on the fact that up until the 20th century, light-colored skin was preferable to darker skin in most cultures.

Art historians, especially of Asian cultures, or anyone with a curiosity about Japanese culture and the concept of wabi-sabi should read In Praise of Shadows ( )

Tanizaki's essay on aesthetics is in the Western mind closer to a stream-of-consciousness narrative, exploring a multitude of topics with informed views, some of which might appear as idiosyncratic, such as the meditative value of the toilet or the tone of Japanese skin as an innate cultural defense mechanism. Before reading, I thought this text was going to be analysis of subjects such as ukiyo-e or Tanizaki's literary predecessors, though it is not quite that. It is a broad and almost haphazard series of meditations on everything from lacquerware to Kabuki theatre to how the style of a Japanese house lends itself to the shadows. However, Tanizaki does make a plea for literature and art to preserve the value of shadows and darkness as American aesthetics have, at this time, begun to supplant Japanese tradition. This an elegy more than an essay, and a fascinating one that is marked by Tanizaki's signature cynicism. ( )

In Praise of Shadows is an essay on aesthetics by one of my favourite Japanese writers, it was originally published in 1933, with the English translation coming out in 1977. This is a tiny book of less than fifty pages, containing a foreword and an afterword, making the essay itself only forty-two pages long, which means it can be read in one sitting, although that would be defeating the point of it, this should be savoured, this book should be read and re-read, should be immersed in. Jun’ichiro Tanizaki discusses traditional Japanese aesthetics in contrast to the changes occurring in his country, or to be more accurate the westernisation of it. Through this essay he compares light & dark, stating that the West with it’s fundamental quest for progress, can be represented as a continuous search for greater light and clarity, whilst in contrast the Japanese path is through shade, that to appreciate Japanese art and literature, you need to understand it’s shadows and the subtle nuances perceived within them. By this method he goes on to explain how this can reach into every part of our lives from what we eat out of, to what our toilets should look like and how they should be perceived. In the afterword it says that one of the oldest and most deeply ingrained of Japanese attitudes to literary style, is that anything with to obvious a structure is contrivance, that to orderly an exposition falsifies the ruminations of the heart, that the truest representation of the searching mind is just to “Follow the Brush” this gives “In Praise of Shadows” a conversational tone, and doesn’t come across as an essay, it is more haphazard, as though you were following the thought process of a gifted writer.

*

“There are good reasons why lacquer soup bowls are still used, qualities which ceramic bowls do not posses. Remove the lid from a ceramic bowl, and there lies the soup, every nuance of its substance and colour revealed. With lacquer ware there is a beauty in that moment between removing the lid and lifting the bowl to the mouth when one glances at the still, silent liquid in the dark depths of the bowl, its colour hardly differing from that of the bowl itself. What lies within the darkness one cannot distinguish, but the palm senses the gentle movement of the liquid, vapour rises from within forming droplets on the rim, and the fragrance carried upon the vapour brings a delicate anticipation. What a world of difference there is between this moment and the moment when soup is served western style, in a pale shallow bowl. A moment of mystery, it might almost be called, a moment of trance.”
*

Although this eloquent strange book is primarily an essay on the Japanese sense of beauty, it is also an act of meditation and an elegy to a culture he perceived to be receiving it’s last rites, making it part clarion call, part last post. This little book discusses architecture, drama, food, beauty and various other aspects of Japanese culture and how the rush for progress, with the adoption of western values, has created an uneasy, unbalanced clash of cultures, with the more forceful Western culture, with it’s bright garish modern technology, challenging his own softer, quieter aesthetic tradition.

*
“ Whenever I see the alcove of a tastefully built Japanese room, I marvel at our comprehension of the secrets of shadows, our sensitive use of shadow and light…. The “mysterious Orient” of which Westerners speak probably refers to the uncanny silence of these dark places. And even we as children would feel an inexpressible chill as we peered into the depths of an alcove to which the sunlight had never penetrated. Where lies the key to this mystery? Ultimately it is the magic of shadows.”
*

Tanizaki shares with us his obvious delight in the ordinary everyday world and contrasts this with his perception of the disposable plastic ideals of western technology and his nations attempts to grasp all, adding his voice to the questions raised on what it means to be Japanese, what the “essence of Japaneseness” might be when confronted by the rush for all things modern and western. I discussed this slightly in my post on OUP, Very Short Introductions – Modern Japan and this book calls for the rediscovery of a particular appreciation of a fragile shadowy beauty that characterised Japanese aesthetics. I’ve read this little book three times now and will probably read it again at some point, it contains a quiet forceful nature it pokes at your thought processes at odd moments, passages come back to contrast the world I find myself in, with it’s meditation on how the beauty and the quality of an experience lived is as important as all other aspects, given it as much relevance today, as when it was written.

http://parrishlantern.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/junichiro-tanizakis-in-praise-of.ht... ( )

I found this essay tremendously interesting. it is basically a renowned novelist's musings on the Japanese aesthetic. It touches on everything from architecture, to women, to toilets, and generally makes a stark contrast between Easy and West. It made many things fall into place for me regarding Japanese art/architecture, literature, film, and food. Although the style was rambling and not entirely cohesive, it was fine that way-- a nice combination of serious analysis and humor, and very accessible. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in anything Japanese. It will change your perspective and understanding. 4.5 stars ( )

A delightful little book, more of an article or an essay really, which juxtaposes the traditional Japanese aesthetics of home design with the Western style. It meanders into many other avenues and anecdotes and becomes a small treatise on Japanese culture in the end. A fantastic companion to any trip to Japan, and especially to Kyoto- the place where Tanizaki spent many years of his life, and which proudly remains one of the most traditional of Japanese cities. ( )