Authors:
Andrijauskas, Antanas Published on: 2001
“Traditional Japanese Aesthetics and Art” is one of the first Western books covering Japanese aesthetic history from the early ages to the end of the XIX century. Japanese aesthetics, unlike that of India and China, does not have ancient traditions extending over thousands of years. It is more sensitive to external influences, to changes. The evolution of aesthetic thought in the Land of the Rising Sun gave birth to a world of unique categories, to distinctive principles of aesthetic understanding and art appreciation. In no other country on earth have aesthetic feeling and artistic values been able to take such firm root in everyday life. Most assuredly, the historical mission of the Japanese people is to exalt beauty and art. One of the most distinctive features of Japanese culture and aesthetic consciousness is that those areas of human creative expression which remain marginal in other cultures acquire extreme importance in Japan and become the focus of intense aesthetic reflection and artistic creation.