The Japanese Aesthetic

I've always had a thing for the Japanese aesthetic, which as I've seen so far is intertwined in all parts of Japan society.

I would characterize it as "at ease," tranquil, quiet strength, nature oriented and natural beauty, etc. I saw the aesthetic in Japan art and sculpture in the Tokyo National Museum today. I saw it on the train and in the streets where there's no argumentation at all and everyone seems really at peace with life. I hear it's the case in business boardrooms, where confrontation is demurred. I see it in religion -- Buddhism and Shinto and so forth. I see it in its poetry: the best haiku is based on landscapes and seasons and nature. I see it in the intellectual outlooks of the people: they tend to shun individualism, promote the collective, go with the flow, and basically yield to the natural elements of the world.

There's something refreshing about the Japanese aesthetic, especially since it accompanies such a successful economic country with hard driven workers. It's refreshing because it seems so pure from top to bottom in the country and it coexists even in a commercial, cosmopolitan city such as Tokyo.