Donald Keene
THE BEAUTY OF JAPAN – “NIHON NO BI-ISHIKI” – TAKE TIME TO DISCOVER THE SPECIAL QUALITIES OF JAPANESE ARTISTIC CREATION
Professor Donald Keene has been studying and teaching about Japan for more than fifty years. Here, he shares with Chopsticks NY his views on how “the beauty of Japan” is conveyed through art and literature, his must-read book recommendations, and his long career in educating others about Japan.
What comes to mind first when you hear the words, “the beauty of Japan” (“Nihon no bi-ishiki”)? And in what ways do you think “the beauty of Japan” is best conveyed to others?
The Japanese aesthetic sense is most clearly demonstrated to me in ceramics. When I go to an exhibition of pottery, I am tempted in a way that is not true of any other form of art. A Japanese potter, especially one of the celebrated ones, seems intuitively capable of creating beautiful works, without any important effort. I am also impressed by textiles, particularly the robes used in the No theatre.
You once wrote that Japanese people’s aesthetic sense was established in the era of Yoshimasa Ashikaga. Could you please elaborate?
Some people claim that distinctive Japanese taste is displayed even in the pre-historic haniwa sculptures (terra cotta clay figures which were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects in ancient Japan). The world of The Tale of Genji is also often considered as exemplifying Japanese taste. But what is today considered particularly Japanese and most conspicuously in Japanese taste, were almost all created during the Higashiyama era, when Yoshimasa built his retreat at the Ginkaku-ji (Temple of the Silver Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan) with the help of superlative craftsmen. Traditional Japanese architecture dates from this time, as does flower arrangement, gardening, monochrome painting and other arts. Obviously, Yoshimasa did not create these “new” arts unaided, but he sponsored people who met his standards of beauty.
Please list a few Japanese books that you recommend to non-Japanese readers.
It is hard to think of just “a few books” that I would recommend, particularly if the selection is to include works of philosophy and history as well as literature. I would recommend in the domain of literature the Manyoshu, The Tale of Genji, Essays in Idleness, Twenty Plays of the No Theatre, The Narrow Road to Oku, and The Makioka Sisters.
*For a summary of these books, see the description below.
Do you think that Americans perceive “Nihon no bi-ishiki” the same way that Japanese people do?
I think that some Americans see “Nihon no bi-ishiki” about the same as Japanese. American potters who study in Japan produce very similar works. Others who live in Japan with the passage of time come to appreciate the same works of beauty as the Japanese. But Americans who have no education with respect to Japan will at first be attracted to flashy souvenirs made for the tourist trade, and it will take time for them to discover the special qualities of Japanese artistic creation. Of course, there are many Japanese who are indifferent to “Nihon no bi-ishiki” and if given the choice would rather have works in foreign rather than in Japanese taste.
What are some of your biggest achievements, both professionally and personally?
I suppose that my biggest achievement was helping to make Japanese Literature a part of world literature. My Anthology of Japanese Literature, published over fifty years ago, was useful in this respect. My History of Japanese Literature has also helped to set the masterpieces in context. But perhaps my greatest achievement was in fostering many young people who later became major scholars of Japanese literature.
———– Interview by Kia Cheleen
–BIOGRAPHY–
Donald Keene received his B.A. (1942), M.A. (1947), and Ph.D. (1949) degrees from Columbia University, and his Litt. D. from Cambridge University in 1978. He is the recipient of numerous prestigious prizes, including the Japanese government’s Bunka Kunsho (Medal of Culture), which is awarded to a select few who have devoted their lives to promoting Japanese culture and academic excellence. He is the first non-Japanese to receive this award. Professor Keene began teaching at Columbia University in 1955, and was named Columbia University Shinchō Professor of Japanese Literature in 1981 and University Professor in 1989; he is currently a University Professor Emeritus and Shinchō Professor Emeritus. Professor Keene has published approximately 25 books in English, consisting of studies of Japanese literature and culture, translations of Japanese works of both classical and modern literature, and edited works including two anthologies of Japanese literature and the collection Twenty Plays of the Nō Theatre. His major publications include a four-volume history of Japanese literature. Professor Keene’s Japanese publications include approximately 30 books, some written originally in Japanese, others translated from English.
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Books Recommended by Prof. Keene
Manyōshū (Collection of a Thousand Leaves)
The oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan’s poetic compilations. The compiler, or the final in a series of compilers, is believed to be Ōtomo no Yakamochi. The collection contains poems ranging from A.D. 347- 759, with the bulk of them representing the period after 600. The collection is divided into twenty parts or books, mirroring a similar practice in collections of Chinese poems of the time.
Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji)
Murasaki Shikibu’s epic-length novel probes the psychological, romantic and political workings of 11th century Japan. The tale spreads across four generations, splashed with poetry and romance and heightened awareness to the fleeting quality of life. Murasaki Shikibu’s tale of love, sex, and politics explores a complex web of human and spiritual relationships. This focus on characters and their emotional experience, as compared to the plot, makes the novel easily accessible to the modern reader.
Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness)
A collection of Japanese essays written by the monk Yoshida Kenkō sometime between 1330 and 1332. The collection includes a preface and 243 passages, varying in length from a single line to a few pages. Yoshida, being a Buddhist monk, the texts are concerned about Buddhist truths, and themes such as death and impermanence prevail in the work, although it also contains passages devoted to the beauty of nature as well as some on humorous incidents.
Twenty Plays of the Nō Theatre
Edited by Prof. Keene himself, the anthology of notable Nō plays explores the depth of unique operatic play developed in Japan. This book divides Nō plays into different categories, while providing accurate translations of the dialogue. It includes an intricate explanation of Nō drama and the difficulties of translation such works into English.
Oku no Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to Oku)
The text is written in the form of a travel diary, and it was penned as author Matsuo Bashō made an epic and dangerous journey on foot through feudal Japan in the late spring of 1689. He and his traveling companion Kawai Sora departed from Edo (modern-day Tokyo) for the northerly interior region, propelled mostly by a desire to see the places about which the old poets wrote. Specifically, he was emulating Saigyō, whom Bashō praised as the greatest waka poet; Bashō made a point of visiting all the sites mentioned in Saigyō’s verse.
Sasameyuki (Makioka Sisters)
The story, set in war-time Osaka and Hyogo Prefecture, centers around the four daughters of the once-wealthy Makioka family now in decline. The setting of the novel shows the fading of traditional Japanese culture, as author Tanizaki Junichiro saw it being replaced by the processes of modernization, Westernization, and militarization. Its main themes are the intricate emotional relationships among the Makioka family members and their social world. The novel can be also be seen as a celebration of traditional aristocratic culture, with which Tanizaki had been fascinated from his youth
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About the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture
Founded in 1986 at Columbia University, the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture was established in honor of Professor Donald Keene, internationally renowned scholar, teacher, and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture. The primary goals of the Center are to promote Japanese studies and to ensure a continuing exchange of ideas between Japan and the United States. Specifically, the Center aims to advance the understanding of Japan and its culture through university instruction, the promotion of academic research, and public outreach. In a larger sense, it seeks to encourage study of the interrelationships among the cultures of Japan and the other nations of the world in forming our shared global heritage. The Keene Center’s operations encompass a variety of activities, including lectures, conferences, workshops, exhibitions, academic fellowships, and a translation-prize program. All of the Center’s events are free and open to the public.
The Donald Keene Center was made possible by the creation of the Shinchō Professorship of Japanese Literature in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia by the Shinchō Foundation for the Promotion of Literature. In 1996, the Japan Foundation awarded the Donald Keene Center its annual Special Prize in recognition of the Center’s first decade of contributions to the promotion of intellectual and cultural exchange between Japan and the United States.
For more information about the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture at Columbia University, please visit their website: www.keenecenter.org
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