Japanese aesthetics and the Nature of Time
Originally posted on November 2019
To understand Grand Seiko, you have to immerse yourself in Japanese culture and accept to change your Western point of view to try and look at these little objects through the spectrum of Japanese culture. And only then can we really begin to grasp the essence of this brand.
So today I'd like to take you on a journey some 9500km from here, to delve into Japanese culture and try to understand a few snippets of it. It's a rich and complex culture, in perpetual evolution, and I make no claim to know or understand it. But I will try to focus on a few important facets of this culture that are intimately linked and that totally inhabit Grand Seiko's production: the contemplation of nature, and the Japanese relationship with time, which will, I hope, lead us to better appreciate the idea of “Nature of Time” embodied by the Spring Drive.
But before talking about nature and time, I think it's important to have a few notions about Japanese aesthetics...
Japanese aesthetics, at the crossroads of religion and culture
Grand Seiko has its roots in Japanese culture, and this has led to an approach to watchmaking that has not been built on the same foundations as Western watchmaking.
The famous great Buddha of Kamakura
The major cultural difference between Japan and ourselves is largely due to differences in religion: whereas Western countries are largely built on Judeo-Christian foundations, Japan's culture is built around two religions: Shintoism, Japan's own religion, and Buddhism, which arrived in Japan in the 5th century.
The difference is significant, and plays a central role in understanding the specifics of Japanese culture, particularly in what interests us today: aesthetics..
The golden ratio, or divine proportion, the symbol of Western aesthetics.
Japanese aesthetic sensibilities are profoundly influenced by Buddhism, and the notion of beauty takes on a different meaning compared to what it means in a Judeo-Christian culture. Where Christian culture would value perfection and promise eternal life through accession to paradise, a culture based on Buddhism (and therefore on reincarnation) would value everything related to the ephemeral aspect of life and its perpetual recommencements. Thus, anything to do with the cycles of life and the unwavering flow of time is of particular importance, and conveys emotions considered more profound than those generated by balance, symmetry, perfection - in a word, beauty as we Westerners conceive it.
Shintoism, on the other hand, is an animistic religion in which every plant, rock, river or animal has a divinity residing within it, placing nature at the center of life.
Miyajima's famous torii, marking the entrance to the sacred island where deer roam freely.
« Though the river’s current never fails, the water passing, moment by moment, is never the same. Where the current pools, bubbles form on the surface, bursting and disappearing as others rise to replace them, none lasting long. In this world, people and their dwelling places are like that, always changing. »
It's clear from these few ideas that notions of time and nature are at the heart of Japanese culture and aesthetics, and are considered to be in constant motion.
Simplicity and the evocation of the passing of time are at the heart of the Zen concept of beauty.
Some Japanese aesthetic concepts
There are many concepts specific to Japanese aesthetics, which are used not only in the arts, but also in architecture and many other facets of Japanese culture.
These concepts have no equivalent in English, so we'll use their original names.
Wabi Sabi
This concept derives its meaning from two complementary notions.
The first, wabi, is an internal process of seeking beauty and fulfillment from scarcity.
The second, sabi, is the grace found in the decline and decay caused by the passage of time.
Together, these notions form a state of acceptance of the ephemeral nature of the earthly condition, celebrating its everchanging nature and honoring every crack and mark tenderly left by use and time.
A symbol of aesthetic sensibility blended with feelings of serenity and loss, wabi sabi is perfectly illustrated in the sublime simplicity of Japanese gardens.
The garden of Nijo Castle, Kyoto
Beauty shines in what is fragile and imperfect.
Wabi sabi also implies a form of mixed austerity and melancholy.
Shibui
A shibui object expresses its beauty discreetly, appearing simple on the surface but revealing itself to be more complex and refined the closer you get to it, whether through small details or texture that balance the apparent simplicity. Designed with heart, by hand, it improves with age and use, without suffering from fashion. We never grow tired of shibui objects, their apparent simplicity gradually revealing subtle nuances that continue to evolve over the years.
It's hard not to think of GS after these few lines.
The 7 characteristics of shibui:
A shuibui object is simple, implicit, modest, natural, an everyday object, imperfect and silent.
Yugen
This notion is perhaps the most comprehensible to us Westerners. It could be translated as mysterious beauty and subtle charm.
It's not a question of appealing to the imagination or describing concrete reality, but of perceiving the world as endowed with implicit depth. This is the grace of the unspoken, the suggested and the secret.
By letting mystery and imagination mingle, this image conveys more emotion.
Shadows and light can also express yugen and create a special atmosphere. Yugen encourages us to look beyond what is visible.
Yugen can also be likened to kanso, the act of seeing beauty in things uncluttered and sober.
« The old pond,
A frog jumps in:
Plop! »
Nature and Time
The Japanese are known for having a traditional culture that encourages contemplation, as can be seen when visiting gardens, temples or shrines, but also in various facets of traditional Japanese art.
The Great Wave of Kanagawa - Hokusai
This is directly linked to the harsh nature and environment of Japan, with its earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and so on. Faced with the impossibility of taming the nature that surrounds them, the Japanese have developed in their culture this contemplative dimension, either of nature in its wild state, or in the reproduction of nature in a controlled universe.
These ideas lead to the origin of bonsai, an art form that expresses the elements of nature and the flow of time through the miniaturization of a tree. Other similar practices as bonkei, which depicts a landscape, or ikebana, the traditional art of floral arrangement, also have their roots in this sensibility.
Zen gardens are also an important aspect of Japanese culture, as they are controlled representations of nature that encourage meditation through their austere beauty, as well as the solemnity and depth of feeling they provoke. The flow of time is also important in these gardens, which are designed to present different faces through the seasons.
We could also mention hanami, the great spring festival where millions of Japanese gather in parks to eat and drink while observing the cherry blossoms. Hanami literally means “to watch the flowers”, but the same type of event is also held in autumn to observe the moon, or in winter to watch the snow.
These examples show once again that it is almost impossible to dissociate nature from the idea of time passing. Nothing is set in stone, and nature can only be appreciated because it reflects the evanescent essence of time itself.
In Japan, cherry trees are particularly prized because as soon as they bloom, a gust of wind is enough to blow the petals away, underlining the fragility of life and the immutable nature of the passing of time...
The famous Sakura Fubuki, or cherry blossom storm, a sublime phenomenon to be experienced at least once in your life...
This appreciation can also be seen in more subtle things. Take the example of the momiji, the Japanese maples that turn red in autumn. Although their color is magnificent, the most beautiful moment is considered to be when some of the leaves are still green, underlining the notion that autumn is not a moment frozen in time, but on the contrary the transition between summer and winter, and the green of these few branches inspires this idea of time passing.
This sensitivity to the flow of time is also illustrated in other aspects of everyday life in Japan. Kimono, for example, feature motifs that always evoke nature and the way it reflects the passage of time. This idea is also the central concept behind kaiseki cuisine, the Japanese haute cuisine typical of Kyoto. Through the choice of products, cooking techniques, tableware and decoration, you'll travel through flavors, Japanese nature and seasons.
In a more subtle way, this notion of time passing also plays a central role in the appreciation of movements and gestures.
« Zen teaches us to be completely present in every gesture: to concentrate here and now. »
This sensitivity is reflected in the way Geisha walk and dance.
It also plays a central role in the tea ceremony, whose practitioners believe that tea is better when prepared with grace and elegance.
This idea is also found in calligraphy, where when the mind is empty, the purity of the gesture gives all its beauty to the exercise.
It doesn’t come as no surprise to see Grand Seiko watchmakers evoking the same ideas, like Yoshifusa Nakazawa of MAS, who says
« To assemble it beautifully, to make it beautifully, I think these are the most important things in making a watch. »
Spring Drive, the embodiment of Japanese aesthetic sensibility
All the notions we've been talking about are embodied by the famous Spring Drive movement and its silent hands gliding over the dial.
The idea was illustrated by Yuji Hamada for Grand Seiko's 55th anniversary, and is also featured in various videos produced by the brand.
Playing with light, Yuji Hamada expresses the way in which the 9F quartz and the 9R Spring Drive embody two illustrations of the passing of time: where the 9F marks each second with extreme precision, the Spring Drive glides perfectly over the dial, evoking the very nature of time itself.
It was then used in various commercials and in the famous “Nature of Time” exhibition, which traveled the world from Tokyo to Milan.
Cette dernière vidéo me semble être la parfaite illustration du concept philosophique du Spring Drive.
Yoshifusa Nakazawa, master watchmaker at Micro Artist Studio, also had this to say about the Spring Drive:
« I think that it is very Japanese to associate quiet movement with the way things move in nature. It feels as though we are alive, living together with nature. I think this is really the idea of Spring Drive itself. It’s like being able to feel the natural slow flow of time, and I think that makes it a very Japanese watch. »
Spring Drive is therefore a movement in a class of its own, not only from a technical point of view, but also because it evokes the Japanese sensibility.
We've been talking about concepts that embody Japanese beauty: refined, subtle, mysterious, melancholy, simple, imperfect, asymmetrical...
And one of the embodiments of these ideas is the “enso” or Zen circle. Far from the mathematicians' circle, in Zen it represents both the universe and spiritual awakening.
A great Japanese sage, Maitre Sekito, once said “Even if the place of meditation is small, it contains the Universe”.
And I think that these watches that we all appreciate so much, these little circles, also enclose a universe, an exciting and particular universe, deeply infused with this Japanese sense of beauty.
In the end, to wear a Spring Drive is to have a Zen garden on your wrist, to evoke the unchanging nature of the flow of time, a bit of poetry and philosophy, an invitation to meditation. In a word, to have a Spring Drive on your wrist is to take a little part of Japan with you.