Abstract
“The ethnic crisis, the urban crisis, and the education crisis are interrelated. If viewed comprehensively, all three can be seen as different facets of a larger crisis, a natural outgrowth of man having developed a new dimension – the cultural dimension – most of which is hidden from view. The question is, how long can man afford to consciously ignore his own dimension?” This phrase is from the book, “The Hidden Dimension (Hall 1990),” by an American anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher, Edward T. Hall.
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Notes
- 1.
Shan shui (山水 in Japanese) painting came from a style of Chinese painting. Shan shui, the translation of which is ink and wash painting, involves or depicts scenery or natural landscapes that are created using a brush and ink rather than more conventional paints.
- 2.
Sesshū Toyo (1420–8 August 1506) was the well-known Japanese master of Shan shui painting from the middle Muromachi period. After studying at Sokokuji Temple in Kyoto to become a Zen Buddhist, he went to China at the time of Song Dynasty and studied landscape paintings. Although influenced by the Chinese painting style, after coming back to Japan he established his own landscape painting style.
- 3.
ATR is a unique private company established in the Kansai region in Japan in March 1986, based on the broad support of industrial companies such as NTT, NEC, Hitachi, Fujitsu, etc. and the Japanese government. Its aim is to promote fundamental and innovative R&D activities as well as to contribute to society in a wide range of telecommunication fields in Japan.
- 4.
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic feeling that became apparent in the late Muromachi period and became shared by many Japanese throughout the Edo period. The thought such as “everything has to change” or “nothing is eternal” is the basis of Wabi-sabi. Based on such thoughts, Wabi-sabi emphasizes the beauty existing in something simple, old, small, and sometimes poor contrary to beauty in huge, gorgeous, new, and luxury objects.
- 5.
Noh derived from the Japanese word for “skill” or “talent,” is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama. Noh was first introduced from China more than 1000 years ago during the Nara period. Although originally it was entertainment including dance, music, performance, etc., gradually the form was purified and minimalized and around the fourteenth century was established in its present form. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles.
- 6.
Kabuki is a classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up (called “Kumadori”) worn by some of its performers. The expression Kabukimono referred originally to those who were bizarrely dressed and swaggered on a street.
- 7.
Mono no Aware is a Japanese aesthetic feeling that frequently appears in Japanese literature in the Heian period (794–1185). Direct translation of Mono no Aware is deep and sentimental feeling when looking at or listening to something. In the Heian period based on Buddhism’s teaching about the end of the world, such thoughts as “everything has to change” or “nothing is eternal” became common. The feeling of Mono no Aware is tightly connected to such a thought.
- 8.
Kare-Shan shui or often called a Zen garden is the Japanese dry rock garden. Its characteristic is a miniature stylized landscape consisting of carefully composed arrangements of rocks, moss, pruned trees and bushes. Its most distinctive feature is to use gravel or sand to represent ripples in water.
- 9.
Waka (literally, “Japanese poem”) is a type of poetry in classical Japanese literature. In contrast to the Chinese style of poetry that is composed using only Chinese characters and are called Kanshi, Waka consists of 5 phrases each of which involves 5, 7, 5, 7, 7 Japanese syllables respectively.
- 10.
The Tale of Genji (called “Genji Monogatari” in Japanese) is a classic work of Japanese literature written by the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early years of the eleventh century, which were culturally the peak of the Heian period. It is sometimes called the world’s first novel. The novel also illustrates a unique depiction of the livelihoods of high courtiers during the Heian period.
- 11.
The Pillow Book (called “Makura no Sōshi” in Japanese) is a Japanese book the contents of which are observations and musings recorded by Sei Shonagon during her time as a court lady to the Empress Consort Teishi during the 1990s and early eleventh century in the Heian period in Japan.
- 12.
Honka-dori is one form of Waka composition in which an old famous Waka is treated as a reference and a part of the referred Waka is used in a newly composed Waka. By doing it, it is believed that the composed Waka would deepen its meaning and become more valuable by expanding the imagination of listeners.
- 13.
Haiku is a very short form of Japanese poetry. It consists of three phrases each of which contains 5, 7, 5 Japanese syllables respectively. The origin of Haiku is Waka. which consists of five phrases containing 5, 7, 7, 7, 7 Japanese syllables respectively. Based on Waka in the late Heian period the new type of Waka composition (called Renga in Japanese) become popular where multiple continuous Waka are composed by multiple people. Then the first part of Renga consisting of 5, 7, 5 syllables became treated as an independent form of poetry. The famous poet Basho Matso through his Haiku composition raised the position of Haiku to sophisticated minimalist poetry.
- 14.
Utamakura is a category of poetic words, often involving place names, which allow for greater allusions and intertextuality across Japanese poems. Utamakura includes locations familiar to the court of ancient Japan, such as particularly sacred Shinto and Buddhism sites.
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Tosa, N. (2016). Introduction – The Discovery of Cultural Computing. In: Cross-Cultural Computing: An Artist's Journey. Springer Series on Cultural Computing. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-6512-5_1
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