M O D E R N J A P A N E S E A E S T H E T I C S M O D E R N J A P A N E S E A E S T H E T I C S A R E A D E R MICHELE MARRA University of Hawai‘i Press Honolulu Publication of this book has been assisted by a grant from the Kajiyama Publications Fund for Japanese History, Culture, and Literature at the University of Hawai‘i at Ma¯noa. © 1999 University of Hawai‘i Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Paperback edition 2002 02 03 04 05 06 07 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Marra, Michele. Modern Japanese aesthetics : a reader / Michele Marra. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–8248–2173–4 ISBN 0–8248–2077–0 (pbk) 1. Aesthetics, Japanese—19th century. 2. Aesethetics, Japanese—20th century. I. Title. BH221.J3M36 1999 111(cid:1).85(cid:1)0952—dc21 99–27949 CIP University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permance and durability of the Council on Library Resources. Designed by Ken Miyamoto Printed by The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group To Professor Robert E. Morrell and to Mrs. Sachiko Morrell on the occasion of their retirement from Washington University in St. Louis CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 THE SUBJECT OF AESTHETICS 1. The Introduction of Aesthetics: Nishi Amane 17 Text: “The Theory of Aesthetics” by Nishi Amane 26 2. A Voice of Resistance: Tsubouchi Sho¯yo¯ 38 Text: “What Is Beauty?” by Tsubouchi Sho¯yo¯ 48 3. Hegelian Reversal: Okakura Kakuzo¯ 65 Text: “A Lecture to the Painting Appreciation Society” by Okakura Kakuzo¯ 71 4. Idealism, Christianity, and Poetics: O¯nishi Hajime 79 Text: “There Is No Religion in Waka” by O¯nishi Hajime 83 5. The Aesthetics of the Nation: Takayama Chogyu¯ 93 Text: “Observations on Aesthetic Pleasure” by Takayama Chogyu¯ 98 AESTHETIC CATEGORIES 6. O¯nishi Yoshinori and the Category of the Aesthetic 115 Text: “Aware”by O¯nishi Yoshinori 122 7. The Creation of Aesthetic Categories 141 Text: “The Logic of Passional Surplus” by Kusanagi Masao 148 vii viii Contents POETIC EXPRESSION 8. The Space of Poetry: The Kyoto School and Nishitani Keiji 171 Text: “Emptiness and Sameness” by Nishitani Keiji 179 9. The Calonology of Imamichi Tomonobu 218 Text: “Expression and Its Logical Foundation” by Imamichi Tomonobu 220 POSTMODERNISM AND AESTHETICS 10. The Play of Mirrors: Sakabe Megumi 231 Text: “Mask and Shadow in Japanese Culture: Implicit Ontology in Japanese Thought” by Sakabe Megumi 242 Text: “Modoki:The Mimetic Tradition in Japan” by Sakabe Megumi 251 11. The Complicity of Aesthetics: Karatani Ko¯jin 263 Text: “Edo Exegesis and the Present” by Karatani Ko¯jin 270 Glossary 301 Chronology 305 Bibliography 311 Index 319 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The basic idea behind this book came from a combination of fortunate circumstances that brought me into contact with distinguished scholars of aesthetics from Japan and the West. As a fellow of the Japan Foundation in 1993, I was privileged to work in the Department of Aesthetics and Art History of the University of Osaka under the supervision of Professor Kambayashi Tsunemichi, the current president of the Japanese Association of Aesthetics. Professor Kambayashi was then organizing a major sympo- sium on the future of philosophical thought to which he invited major twentieth-century philosophers, including Professor Gianni Vattimo of the University of Turin. It was ironic indeed that I, a graduate of the Univer- sity of Turin, would meet my former dean of humanities for the first time in Japan and would be asked to be his interpreter. This encounter encour- aged me to reread the insightful work of Professor Vattimo, who has been very vocal on the need to make the past relevant to the present in the hu- manities. As a scholar of medieval Japan, I grew considerably interested in the role played by aesthetic categories in the formation of contemporary discourses on premodern Japan. Urged by a desire to know more about the use of Western hermeneutics in the construction of images of Japan, I be- gan to teach a series of undergraduate courses on Japanese aesthetics and hermeneutics at the University of California, Los Angeles. Unfortunately, I soon discovered the paucity of materials on these topics. What one need- ed on the Japanese side was a publication similar to Gianni Vattimo’s bril- liant anthology of texts on aesthetics, Modern Aesthetics (Estetica Moderna, 1977). Although the present work falls short of reaching the completeness of Vattimo’s work, it is nevertheless a step in that direction. To Professors Kambayashi and Vattimo, therefore, go my deepest thanks for allowing me to envision this book. To the Japan Foundation I am particularly grateful for financing four months of research at the University of Osaka. From 1993 to 1995 at UCLA I held several graduate seminars on Japa- ix x Acknowledgments nese aesthetics in which students worked on preliminary drafts of some of the texts presented in this book. Bruce Baird, Joseph Essertier, Ryuko Flo- res, Makiko Fujiwara, Gregory Golley, and Leslie Winston were among them. Christopher Bush of the Department of Comparative Literature took upon himself the task of reading the entire manuscript. Several colleagues from my home department were very supportive of this project, foremost among them Professor Herbert Plutschow, a truly learned, generous, and ideal colleague. Conversations with Haun Saussy, now of Stanford Univer- sity, were inspirational in making me aware of the complexities of “the problem of a Chinese aesthetic,” to use the title of his thought-provoking book. Fred Notehelfer, director of the UCLA Center for Japanese Studies, has made the UCLA experience truly enjoyable and rewarding by shaping the center into UCLA’s most vital organization on Japan. Mihoko Miki and Toshie Marra of the Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library shared with me, as always, their unique bibliographic expertise. The UCLA Council on Research Award was very generous in supporting this study. The completion of this book’s first draft was made possible by a lavish grant from the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Koku- sai Nihon Bungaku Kenkyu¯ Senta¯) where I spent a most rewarding year from 1996 to 1997. I deeply thank Professor Haga To¯ru, emeritus, of the University of Tokyo for his kind invitation. At the Nichibunken I benefit- ed from the expertise of Professors Suzuki Sadami (modern Japanese liter- ature), Inaga Shigemi (Japanese and Western art), Mitsuta Kazunobu (pre- modern Japanese literature), Hayakawa Monta (Japanese art), Kasaya Kazuhiko (Japanese history), and Inoue Sho¯ichi (Japanese architecture, de- sign, and popular culture). My interest in issues related to Japanese aesthetics and hermeneutics would not have evolved without the guidance of my teachers of Japanese literature. Without their pioneering efforts in making philosophy relevant to the field of Japanese literature, in fact, this book would not exist. It gives me infinite pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to them once again. They are Professors Robert E. Morrell (M.A. adviser), William R. LaFleur (Ph.D. adviser), and J. Thomas Rimer (whole life adviser). It is with deep regret that I think of all the mistakes they will find in this book despite such a strong didactic presence. Responsibility, of course, stays with the imperfect student. Patricia Crosby, executive editor of the University of Hawai‘i Press, is the embodiment of loyalty and determination in the field of publishing. I thank her deeply for all her hard work in defending and promoting my re- search. I also want to thank Masako Ikeda, managing editor, and Don Yoder, copy editor for the press, for their professional care.