Japan A Complex Simplicity

Japan:
A Complex SimplicityJapan has been called a land of simultaneous opposites, but it is really a place of complex simplicity.
The country of Japan, as well as its spirituality, artwork, and culture all show the Japanese desire for simplicity. However, nothing is truly simple in Japan. Everything consists of layers of meaning no matter how small or large. The country of Japan possesses great beauty and abundance of life, but that beauty hides a disturbing menace.
Japan has mountains, forests, hot springs, valleys, lakes, and coast lines; however, it is this simple façade that conceals a complex, dangerous environment. Japan is often wracked by earthquakes, typhoons, and tsunamis. One can easily be lost in Japan's serene vistas and forget its dangers. Yet it was this beautiful, often hostile environment that inspires and dwells within the Japanese people. The Japanese people credited a divine wind (typhoon) with saving Japan from the invading Mongols. Most recently however, interviews with survivors of the latest tsunami and earthquakes indicate that even the Japanese can forget that their natural world can be vicious. Even in the face of such brutal beauty, the Japanese people continue to embrace it. The Japanese have taken their natural surroundings and woven it into their spiritual beliefs.
Their simple desire to make sense of the natural events around them has given rise to a complex mythology. The simple needs for food, shelter, and clothing became interwoven into a strong spirituality. The need for a good rice harvest becomes a complex web of deities. The rice field and cherry tree become linked by natural spirits. The cherry tree is an indicator of the season, which in turn indicates the time to begin planting rice. If the spirits within the cherry tree are happy, then the rice harvest will be good also. This simple need to understand the seasons for planting and harvesting developed into a wondrously layered belief system. This in turn allowed the Japanese people to find a harmony between the real world and the natural world. It allowed them to put a simple face on a difficult, often tumultuous world. As a result of their desire for simplicity in a complex world, the Japanese culture is permeated by it.
Their arts of all types mirror this. Fine examples of this desire for simplicity are the ceramics used by the Japanese. On the surface they may seem to lack color or intricacy. This is misleading. There is actually great depth to them. The need to allow the natural world to come through in a practical fashion is quite complicated. A tea cup may only consist of one or two colors with no set pattern and a knobby feel, but that is the deception. The one who made it actually faced great difficulty. That difficulty was to not interfere with what the object would naturally become. In other words, the artist had to resist changing it into something unnatural. The Japanese craftsman, unlike those from other countries, resisted artificial shaping and decoration. Not only that, but they saw not only a single object, but its place in a larger whole. There again, simplicity gives way to complexity. A tea cup becomes a beautiful set and that set, when surrounded by people and place, becomes important. As a result, the practical gives way to the beautiful. Another example of the Japanese embrace of nature and the desire for simplicity are the magnificent gardens.
Japanese gardens are prized for their apparent simplicity; however, a rock garden can conceal great complexity. When you first gaze upon it, there doesn't seem to be very much to hold interest. Further study uncovers great depth and purpose. A viewer may find that they cannot view the whole rock garden while sitting in one location. Every stone is placed with purpose, and the patterns raked into the rock may never be the same. A viewer will find his or herself lost in a complex world, when they had expected very little. Many Japanese use these gardens to meditate to this day. Other Japanese gardens seem to be left untouched by people. The flowers grow as they normally would, and plants do not appear groomed in any fashion. This too is deceptive. The design may be intended to shift one's eye to a certain location. A path may be designed to give the one following it a sense of being lost to the outside world. A lake in a serene setting becomes not just a lake, but a different view of the world with each change of season. Something so simple becomes a hidden world of multiple visual, aural, and other delights. The staples of Japanese culture and society, such as the kimono and samurai, are deceptively simple.
The kimono comes from a simple pattern, but the garment that originates from that pattern is often stunning. Its practical function belies its elegance. Not only that, but it is also tied to the Japanese love of nature. Kimonos were often made of silk taken from silk worms, and those natural elements imbued its wearer with its spirit. The kimono can become a canvas full of artistic merit. They can be worn in layers or by itself. In that way, a simple garment becomes so much more and often a family heirloom passed from one generation to another like a treasure. The samurai arose from a practical need to defend one's home.
They seemed to be simple warriors, but they are indeed quite complex. A samurai upholds a strict code at all times. Their clothing even has meaning. They seek to keep a balance between the violence of the samurai with the natural world around them. They study the arts and sciences and have great honor. They only used certain weapons such as the kitana sword. Even these apparently simple weapons, were quite ornate when investigated further. The blades have patterns polished into them. The hilts often have small medallions tucked into the wrapping to bestow blessings upon its wielder. They are easy to miss on an initial inspection. The simple function of the sword also belies the years of training that went behind its proper use and the craftsmanship that went into its development.
Both the kimono and samurai are modern and ancient. They exist in our time, but represent a much older and complicated time. Another area which one can see both the simplicity and complexity that is Japan is its visual arts such as movies.
Movies such as Seven Samurai appear to be basic physically violent pictures, but actually address serious issues underwritten in the story such as poverty and the role the samurai played in the hardships of the people. The movie Godzilla also seems a simple monster movie on the surface, but it addresses the issues of the perversion of nature, the threat of nuclear war, and the need for a protected Japan.
Again, that which appears to be simple entertainment has layers of meaning and complexity. Other visual arts such as woodblocks, kabuki, and Puppet Theater, also seem simple on first glance. However, they like the movies are steeped with deeper meaning and usage. The woodblocks often depicted the regular lives of people, rather than that of the wealthy or privileged. Kabuki Theater and Puppet Theater often addressed or made fun of the wealthy, or told the story of ill-fated love, or the sad state of women under the Tokugawa regime.
Such simple mediums deliver strikingly poignant stories and myths. Sometimes, these stories may contain layers of plot, conflict, and resolution. They actually make the viewer not only enjoy the entertainment, but contemplate it afterward. Another staple of Japan that indicates a false simplicity is the geisha.
Her purpose and existence seem to be straight forward as entertainment, but the geisha is so much more than a doll in fine clothing. They are very well trained and intelligent women, who chose to endure years of seclusion except for celebrations, worship, and the business world in which they operate. Their makeup and kimonos have meaning as well. A maiko has more vibrant kimonos and more ornate obis, whereas as a geisha is more refined and subtle. Their history is also complex, coming from a time when they were thought to be nothing more than prostitutes, but geisha also served a vital role in politics and war. They could gather information and, if needed, assassinate a target. That supposedly simple profession, when taken in a larger context now becomes an extremely complex discipline. There are many other areas of Japanese society which demonstrate both simplicity and a complexity on deeper glance, but it could take many more pages to discuss them all even briefly.
As one can see, Japanese society and culture could not be what it is without its simple and complex arts, crafts, history, religion, and spirituality. It would be an honor to someday experience these concepts and appreciations in person.