Japanese Elements of Design

new painting: acrylic and collage title: Rhythms

NAGARE: Flowing. Flowing water is a symbol of movements, dynamism and change. Its only constant quality is its mutability. The ebb and flow of water is a manifestation of the transforming power of nature.

Waterfall and pond near my deck of my home.

Wooden gate entrance to a shrine.

In Japanese gardens, sand is raked to look like water currents.

MARU: Circle. Extending a point into a line begins a journey that ends only when the line comes 'full circle' to return to its starting point. The circle thus symbolizes completion. A circle is harmonious and tranquil, yet it represents the cycle that is life. The circle is an opening, a window on the whole of being that it also represents, the eye that sees itself.

A banner outside a small restaurant, Kyoto.

A paper fan.

KATADORI: Sign. Calligraphy is a combination of kanji (a picture of a thing, or a diagram, or the essential form or spirit), and native syllables. There is a close link between reality and representation.

Shop curtain featuring kanji for 'day', Kyoto.

Store front in Kyoto.

SEI: Nature. Nature is the source of all art and design in Japan. The materials of art and architecture are rendered in forms that evoke their natural origins, and artifacts are decorated with images from the natural world.

Dragon flies and flower patterns on fabric.

Dragon pattern on door outside a temple, Kyoto.

KATA: Pattern. Repetition of line and form create serenity and harmony inside and outside the home.

Circle patterns on a door outside a temple, Kyoto.

Lattice window of a house.

Store fronts on small cobbled street, Kyoto

SEI: Sanctity. Rocks and trees, waterfalls and streams, animals and plants can possess sanctity. The sacred is announced with braided rope and twisted paper, with torii gateways and guardian statues.

Buddhist saints in a mountain cave at Rakanji Temple, Kyushu.

The Inari Fox at the entrance to the Fushimi Inari temple in Kyoto.

Fushimi Inari torii gates

ATSUMARU: Collections. Collections can excite and charm, but they can also comfort and calm.

Some of my sumi and Japanese brushes.

Some game pieces and carved jade pieces.

A few Japanese dolls from my collection.

Some of the images in this post came from the above book: A Collection: JAPANESE DESIGN by Kenneth Straiton.

A Way of Life

"All works of art, it may be said, are more beautiful when they suggest something beyond themselves than when they end up being merely what they are." Soetsu Yanagi, The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty.

The following elements of Japanese design were taken from this book, written by Boye Lafayette De Mente. Japanese design is a way of life. There is no separation between life and art. They are the same thing.

ISHI: The Use of Sabi Stones. The Japanese imbue stones with spirituality and use them in many aesthetic ways. Their stones form a link between humans, the earth, nature--and they have a calming effect on the spirit.

TAKE: The Beauty and function of bamboo. Bamboo is the foundation or frame of so many Japanese objects-- some estimates are above ten thousand. Bamboo is a symbol of virtue, fidelity and constancy.

KI: Humility in Wood. In the Japanese concept of aesthetics, wood that is less than perfect is regarded as "humble" or more natural, and therefore more appropriate for humans, who need to be reminded by nature that imperfections are good.

SABI: Savoring the "rust" of age. The basic meaning of sabi is rust, or to decline or to become solitary. Revering nature involves an appreciation of weathering, aging and the passage of time.
This naturalness and simplicity exudes a sense of tranquility.

FUKINSEI: Symmetry vs. Asymmetry. Fukinsei means "without balance". Artists learned a long time ago that asymmetry could be used to give designs a fresh, surprising, charming look.

KATACHI: Making Things Shapely. Katachi relates to the perfect union of form and function.

WABI: Desolate beauty--an Indefinable Wistfulness. Wabi refers to rustic beauty, both natural and man-made. A deeper essence or meaning is more important than the material it is made from.


The evening bell, solemn and bronze
In the grandfather temple
down the hill.
Slow beat of the mountain's heart, perhaps
or determined pulse of the pine tree
growing out of a crotch of the
slippery monkey tree.
All one, perhaps---
bell, mountain, tree...