A key part of the Japanese Aesthetic—the ancient ideals that still govern the norms on taste and beauty in Japan—wabi-sabi is not only untranslatable, but also considered undefinable in Japanese culture. It encapsulates a more relaxed acceptance of transience, nature and melancholy, favouring the imperfect and incomplete in everything, from architecture to pottery to flower arranging.
Wabi, which roughly means "the elegant beauty of humble simplicity", and sabi, which means "the passing of time and subsequent deterioration", were combined to form a sense unique to Japan and pivotal to Japanese culture. The ancient art of wabi-cha, a style of tea ceremony established by tea masters Murata Juko and Sen no Rikyu from the late 15th to 16th centuries, forms a good introduction to wabi-sabi. Without bright colours and ornate designs to rely on as signifiers of accepted beauty, guests were encouraged to study subtle colours and textures that would previously have been overlooked.
"The aesthetics of wabi-sabi opened our eyes to everyday life and gave us a method of handling what is common in an uncommon, aesthetic way," Professor Tanehisa Otabe (professor at Tokyo University’s Institute of Aesthetics) said, highlighting the importance of acceptance in Japanese culture, a society forced to contend with devastating natural disasters on a semi-regular basis.