Wabi
"I myself cannot define this word that represents Japanese aesthetics. While wabi is considered to be an extremely noble aesthetic of the Japanese&sbquo I would like to state my own current notion of its profound meaning here. It was originally a word that merely expressed mental states of being sad&sbquo lonely or desolate&sbquo when people felt despair&sbquo heartbreak or were spiritually unrewarded. However&sbquo in the middle ages&sbquo wabi and sabi started to be used as symbolic and profound terms to represent aesthetic sensibilities in sado(tea ceremony) and haikai(haike). Wabi thereafter became a word that ultimately expressed Japanese aesthetics&sbquo including both aesthetic and philosophical natures that are unique to Japan&sbquo and various definitions have been adopted. In my notion&sbquo the intrinsic loneliness as a human being&sbquo that is wabishisa(bleakness) and sabishisa(loneliness)&sbquo is closely related to the human view of life and death. That is&sbquo the reality of being alive is to accept the process towards death and confirm your solitude. It is equal to the fact all things decay. In short&sbquo wabi is a set of values that seeks humility and conciseness rather than extravagance. It implies that the essential power to affirm the reality of being alive lies in being frugal&sbquo and has become a word that contains the philosophy of "the sense of affirmation and resignation towards aesthetics." It is the courage to directly face "life and death" and a word that express the essence of art that is to criticize the system and politics in reality. As a Japanese designer&sbquo I would like to consider wabi as an aesthetic concept that includes such traditions as stated above and explore how it can be positioned at the root of creativity in Japanese design."