-
Check-In
- Grounding Practice
-
Intro to Jun’ichirō Tanizaki
-
Prompts, Reflection, & Breakouts
-
Group Share & Closing
Jun’ichirō Tanizaki:
In Praise of Shadows
- This week: nuance, imperfection, and the slow unfolding of life.
- Subtlety invites us to notice the overlooked—the play of light and shadow, the quiet details that hold meaning.
- How can slowing down help us uncover hidden layers in our creative process and daily life?
Jun’ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965) was one of Japan’s most celebrated modern writers, known for exploring themes of aesthetics, cultural identity, eroticism, and the tension between tradition and modernity. His works often reflected a deep fascination with the sensory world, the passage of time, and the shifting cultural landscape of Japan.
Born in Tokyo, Tanizaki was raised in an era of rapid modernization and Westernization following the Meiji Restoration (1868–1912)—a period when Japan was moving away from its traditional cultural roots in an effort to industrialize and adopt Western technologies and values.
Over his lifetime, he witnessed the increasing dominance of Western influence over Japanese art, architecture, and daily life.
In Praise of Shadows (1933) is Tanizaki’s meditative essay on traditional Japanese aesthetics, written as a reaction to Japan’s rapid Westernization.
By the 1930s, Western industrialization had transformed Japanese society, introducing electric lighting, modern architecture, and mass-produced materials that clashed with the subtle, shadowed beauty of traditional Japanese design. Tanizaki saw these changes as a loss of something profound.
- Beauty exists not in clarity and brightness, but in shadow, nuance, and imperfection.
- The dim glow of candlelight, the rich patina of aged materials, and the play of light and shadow create a sense of depth, mystery, and atmosphere that modern lighting and materials erase.
- Western culture often seeks to eliminate shadow, illuminate everything fully, and prioritize efficiency.
- Japanese aesthetics, in contrast, find beauty in what is hidden, aged, softened, and subtle.
What happens when we allow some things to remain in shadow—when we stop demanding full clarity and embrace mystery, slowness, and depth?
Imperfection & Time-Worn Beauty
The Unfinished as an Invitation
Slowness & the Passage of Time
“We Orientals create a kind of beauty of our own by calling forth shadows in places that, by nature, would normally stand in the glare of the sun; we place it in corners where otherwise there would be nothing but disorder. By making use of shadows, a realm of beauty forms, a realm we cannot imagine in a space flooded with light. In the pale glow of a paper lantern, the murk of an alcove, the patina of a well-used object, there is an elegance that cannot be found in the clarity of electric lights. Beauty, in its truest form, does not shine; it hovers, delicate and fleeting, in the space between light and dark.”
Prompts (5 min)
- What part of your life, work, or creative process feels like a shadow or is in the shadow?
- What shadow or darkness do you find yourself avoiding right now? In the world? In the news? In your personal life?
- What would it feel like to step into your shadows rather than push them away?
“We love things that bear the marks of grime, soot,
and weather… the colors and sheen that call to mind the past that made them.”
Prompts (5 min)
- What in your life has a comfortable wear, patina, or imperfection?
- How can you welcome more wear, patina, and imperfection into your life?
- Where can you allow things to evolve naturally rather than forcing them into newness or polish?
Activity: A Worn Object (5 min)
Explore your space and find an object of yours that holds wear, age, or history. Sit with it , hold it, look at it. Write 2–3 sentences about why you love it.
Exploring Brightness & Overexposure
“From candle to oil lamp, oil lamp to gaslight, gaslight to electric light—his quest for a brighter light never ceases, he spares no pains to eradicate even the minutest shadow.”
Prompts (5 min)
- Where do you feel pressured to be fully visible, fully “on” all the time?
-
Where in your life feels so illuminated that it’s overwhelming?
- Where might too much clarity be stripping away depth, subtlety, or mystery?
Installation view of the exhibition "Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present"
“A Japanese room might be likened to an ink wash painting, with its light-grained wood, its white shoji paper, its subdued colors. A lustrous black lacquer dish sits in the dim light, its surface reflecting the wavering glow of a candle. The walls of the alcove absorb the shadows, and the room, instead of being illuminated in a uniform glare, breathes with a gentle rhythm of light and dark. Here, in this softness, there is a stillness that invites the mind to rest.”
Activity: Your Architecture of Rest (10 min)
Take a moment to observe your surroundings. If possible, move through your space—walk, sit, and engage with it physically. Notice how it feels to touch surfaces, sense the air, and observe the interplay of light and shadow. Let yourself experience the space.
- Where do you feel most at ease?
-
What objects bring you sensorial comfort?
- What’s one small way you can shape your surroundings to better hold rest?