In Praise of Shadows
by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 184)
"Every time I am shown to an old, dimly lit, and, I would add, impeccably clean toilet in a Nara or Kyoto temple, I am impressed with the singular virtues of Japanese architecture. The parlor may have its charms, but the Japanese toilet truly is a place of spiritual repose. It always stands apart from the main building, at the end of a corridor, in a grove fragrant with leaves and moss. No words can describe that sensation as one sits in the dim light basking in the faint glow reflected fro...more
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kereeen...
bagi arsitek yang berada dalam mazhab fenomenologi.
buku ini musti dibaca!
tapi buku ini bukan ditulis oleh seorang arsitek. alih-alih, dia adalah seorang novelis.
tanizaki menulis di awal abad XX, mengenai perbedaan orang barat dan orang jepang dalam menghayati benda-benda.
"kertas jepang tidak semengkilat dan selicin kertas dari barat. ketika diremas, kertas kita tidak berisik. tapi lembut dan lunak." selanjutnya "dan ketika dijadikan tabir shoji, kertas kita men...more
bagi arsitek yang berada dalam mazhab fenomenologi.
buku ini musti dibaca!
tapi buku ini bukan ditulis oleh seorang arsitek. alih-alih, dia adalah seorang novelis.
tanizaki menulis di awal abad XX, mengenai perbedaan orang barat dan orang jepang dalam menghayati benda-benda.
"kertas jepang tidak semengkilat dan selicin kertas dari barat. ketika diremas, kertas kita tidak berisik. tapi lembut dan lunak." selanjutnya "dan ketika dijadikan tabir shoji, kertas kita men...more
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Read in January, 2007
A brief and deeply rewarding essay on the merits of traditional Japanese architecture, and to a larger extent, all pre-industrial and craft-based design. Tanizaki rhapsodises about Noh theatre performances, the color of miso in a lacquer bowl, the luminous qualities of gold leaf by candlelight, and most outrageously, the pleasure of using a wooden outhouse at night. A great counterpoint for a world that is often too bright, too antiseptic and impersonal. When reading this I had assumed this was ...more
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Read in March, 2008
“De modo geral, nós, os japoneses, sentimos desassossego diante de objetos cintilantes”. A frase, de Junichiro Tanizaki, aponta o tema a partir do qual se desdobram as considerações do ensaio Em Louvor da Sombra. Tanizaki é um escritor notável. Com certeza, está na minha lista de 10 escritores preferidos. O que mais me impressiona, em seus livros, é a presença constante de uma sensualidade sutil, original, mas sempre intensa. Aqui, ele discorre sobre a sombra na cultura japonesa, sob...more
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Uber-fascinating book about a great author's aesthetic when it comes to rooms and lighting. He talks about the beauty of shadows in a room and how the light bulb sort of became the enemy of .... well everything!
Tanizaki is one of Japan's great authors, and this book may seem like a reactionary work from an older man, but I think it's a passionate cry out for things that were left mysterious and due to technology (like light bulbs) exposes what is so beautiful about darkness and foods that l...more
Tanizaki is one of Japan's great authors, and this book may seem like a reactionary work from an older man, but I think it's a passionate cry out for things that were left mysterious and due to technology (like light bulbs) exposes what is so beautiful about darkness and foods that l...more
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This book sensitized me to light how different cultures use light. In Japanese architecture, natural light is always filtered, indirect and moody. In western architecture, sunlight is highly valued; light is usually more direct. Shadows are chased away.
I always think of this book when I eat miso soup. Miso soup is very unappetizing in bright light. It is meant to be served in a dark bowl and eaten in low light; then one can appreciate its cloudy substance.
I always think of this book when I eat miso soup. Miso soup is very unappetizing in bright light. It is meant to be served in a dark bowl and eaten in low light; then one can appreciate its cloudy substance.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in June, 2007
darkness is beautiful...
this is an essay written by tanizaki in 1933, which argues that japanese aesthetics developed organically given the climate, environment, and complexion and body-type of the people living in japan. very racializing and unrealistically intellectual. but interesting treatment of sexuality, american racism, western progressivist supremacy etc. i see echoes of his approach in the magazine Kimono-hime.
this is an essay written by tanizaki in 1933, which argues that japanese aesthetics developed organically given the climate, environment, and complexion and body-type of the people living in japan. very racializing and unrealistically intellectual. but interesting treatment of sexuality, american racism, western progressivist supremacy etc. i see echoes of his approach in the magazine Kimono-hime.
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Read in September, 2007
4 stars because Tanizaki only wrote for 41 pages.
in a quick read, he gives the reader incredible insight into a culture that could have been...and maybe still can. He bounces from architecture to lacquerware to theatre with ease. The shame is the loss of great Japanese rituals and aesthetics, replaced with an aggressive and superficial western paradigm. shadows good. light bad.
in a quick read, he gives the reader incredible insight into a culture that could have been...and maybe still can. He bounces from architecture to lacquerware to theatre with ease. The shame is the loss of great Japanese rituals and aesthetics, replaced with an aggressive and superficial western paradigm. shadows good. light bad.
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
Japanese Culture Buffs
This is an odd look at Eastern vs. Western Society. Its an attempt to synthesize the two, but the author recognizes that it is generally impractical.
Note that there is a racial element to it, too. He states there are fundamental differences between East and West that cannot be resolved, no matter how white the skin, because the yellow is more than skin deep (his words).
Note that there is a racial element to it, too. He states there are fundamental differences between East and West that cannot be resolved, no matter how white the skin, because the yellow is more than skin deep (his words).
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recommends it for:
people who have been/ are going/ are interested in Japan and Japanese stuff
This essay will help you appreciate the dark, simple aspects of Japanese achitecture and design. I've been visiting Japan my whole life, even taken art history courses, but never realized the "dark" beauty and shadows that are there until I read this essay. He talks quite a bit about toilets. I got a much better understanding of the "wabi-sabi" concept.
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This small book about the Japanese house is an elegy to the pre-modern world when simple domestic materials and objects were cherished as they became "un-new" and revealed the marks of life in the house.
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recommends it for:
Deconstructionists
This book is simultaneously sumptuously beautiful in its prose and hilarious in its politics. It can be read over and over -- try interpreting him as serious the first time, and sarcastic the next. It's like two treatises in one!
This book is simultaneously sumptuously beautiful in its prose and hilarious in its politics. It can be read over and over -- try interpreting him as serious the first time, and sarcastic the next. It's like two treatises in one!
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Read in June, 2008
A very interesting essay on Japanese architecture & design. He creates a very succinct argument of eastern vs. western thought regarding the building of houses, the placement of rooms, even the materials used. I liked it very much.
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I fantasize about the toilets this man describes. It's an aesthetic ascetic vacation in book form. The shadows are warm ones: navy, charcoal, ocher, wood --- when darkness is tranquil.
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Read in September, 2007
very light read. Tanazaki muses about dark places, shadowy things, teeth & toilets in the quintessential Japanese stream-of-concioussness style. charming if you don't mind all bouncing around.
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interesting essay on design based on japanese ideas of aesthetics...wabi sabi, etc. if you don't like to clean your house, read this book you will be championed by the author.
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Read in July, 2008
This essay on aesthetics was a funny and thoughtful read. Tanizaki argues that shadows allow for the true beauty in traditional Japanese architecture, theater, and food.
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a world of subtlety and unexpected aesthetic rewards. great meditation on the traditional japanese privy among other things.
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profound treatise on japanese aesthetics. this is one of those books that causes random epiphanies years later. brilliant.
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Read in January, 2007
Read this while in Hoi An, Vietnam. An interesting rant from the 1930's on Japanese vs western aesthetics and life.
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