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Iki (aesthetic Ideal)
is a Japanese aesthetical ideal of subdued displays of taste and/or wealth, with an emphasis on belying, on first glance, the efforts taken to appear stylish. It is thought to have originated amongst the chōnin, merchant classes of Edo (modern-day Tokyo) in Edo period Japan, subverting class through an expression of material wealth that formed an aesthetic language specifically aimed at one's peers.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Iki'' in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File. Sometimes misunderstood in the West as the archetypal or stereotypical aesthetics of Cool Japan, Japanese culture, is instead a cornerstone of traditional Japanese aesthetic appeal and thought. Both geisha and kimono, amongst other cultural aspects, are thought to have been influenced by and developed through , and remain largely influenced by it to this day. History During the Edo period, a number of edicts were passed ...
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Aesthetical
Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , accessed on 15 September 2024. Aesthetics examines values about, and Critical thinking, critical judgments of, artistic taste and preference. It thus studies how Artist, artists imagine, create, and perform works of art, as well as how people use, enjoy, and criticize art. Aesthetics considers why people consider certain things beautiful and not others, as well as how objects of beauty and art can affect our moods and our beliefs. Aesthetics tries to find answers to what exactly is art and what makes good art. It considers what happens in our minds when we view Visual arts, visual art, listen to music, read poetry, enjoy delicious food, and engage in large artistic projects like creating and experiencing plays, fashion shows ...
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Kawaii
''Kawaii'' is a Japanese cultural phenomenon which emphasizes cuteness, childlike innocence, charm, and simplicity. ''Kawaii'' culture began to flourish in the 1970s, driven by youth culture and the rise of cute characters in manga and anime (comics and animation) and Merchandising, merchandise, exemplified by the creation of Hello Kitty by Sanrio in 1974. The ''kawaii'' Aesthetics, aesthetic is characterized by soft or pastel (usually pink, blue and white) colors, rounded shapes, and features which evoke vulnerability, such as big eyes and small mouths, and has become a prominent aspect of Japanese popular culture, influencing entertainment (including toys and Japanese idol, idols), fashion (such as Lolita fashion), advertising, and product design. Etymology The word ''kawaii'' originally derives from the phrase ''kao hayushi'', which literally means "(one's) face (is) aglow," commonly used to refer to flushing or blushing of the face. The second morpheme is cognate with ''- ...
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Harper & Row
Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins, based in New York City. Founded in New York in 1817 by James Harper and his brother John, the company operated as J. & J. Harper until 1833, when it changed its name to Harper & Brothers, reflecting the inclusion of Joseph and Fletcher Harper. Harper began publishing ''Harper's Magazine'', ''Harper's Weekly'', and other periodicals beginning in the 1850s. From 1962 to 1990, the company was known as Harper & Row after its merger with Row, Peterson & Company. Harper & Row was purchased in 1987 by News Corporation and combined with William Collins, Sons, its United Kingdom counterpart, in 1990 to form HarperCollins, although the Harper name has been used in its place since 2007. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishing business, J. & J. Harper, in New York City in 1817. Their two brothers, Joseph Wesl ...
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Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art, and language. In April 1933, Heidegger was elected as Rector (academia), rector at the University of Freiburg and has been widely criticized for his membership and support for the Nazi Party during his tenure. After World War II he was dismissed from Freiburg and banned from teaching after denazification hearings at Freiburg. There has been controversy about the relationship between Martin Heidegger and Nazism, his philosophy and Nazism. In Heidegger's first major text, ''Being and Time'' (1927), ''Dasein'' is introduced as a term for the type of being that humans possess. Heidegger believed that Dasein already has a "pre-ontological" and concrete understanding that shapes how it lives, which he analyzed in terms of the unitary structur ...
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Sterling Publishing
Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. is a publisher of a broad range of subject areas, with multiple imprints and more than 5,000 titles in print. Founded in 1949 by David A. Boehm, Sterling also publishes books for a number of brands, including AARP, Hasbro, Hearst Magazines, and ''USA TODAY'', as well as serves as the North American distributor for domestic and international publishers including: Anova, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Carlton Books, Duncan Baird, Guild of Master Craftsmen, the Orion Publishing Group, and Sixth & Spring Books. Sterling Publishing became a wholly owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, when the book retailer acquired it in 2003. On January 5, 2012, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that Barnes & Noble had put its Sterling Publishing business up for sale. Negotiations failed to produce a buyer, however, and as of March 2012 Sterling was reportedly no longer for sale. In January 2022, Sterling rebranded as Union Square & Co. In March 2022, the compa ...
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Ukiyo
is the Japanese term used to describe the urban lifestyle and culture, especially the pleasure-seeking aspects, of Edo period Japan (1600–1867). Ukiyo culture culture developed in Yoshiwara, the licensed red-light district of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), the site of many brothels frequented by Japan's growing middle class. A prominent author of the genre was Ihara Saikaku, who wrote '' The Life of an Amorous Woman''. culture also arose in other cities, such as Osaka and Kyoto. This middle class, newly rich merchants known as chōnin, were unable to move up the social ladder due to the segregated class system imposed by the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period. Chōnin were the lowest class of four, below warriors, farmers and artisans. Due to being economically powerful but socially confined, their assets were turned to conspicuous consumption, arts and culture. The term in medieval Japan was associated with Buddhism and meant "this transient, unreliable world". ...
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Kanji
are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequently-derived Syllabary, syllabic scripts of and . The characters have Japanese pronunciations; most have two, with one based on the Chinese sound. A few characters were invented in Japan by constructing character components derived from other Chinese characters. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan made its own efforts to simplify the characters, now known as , by a process similar to China's simplified Chinese characters, simplification efforts, with the intention to increase literacy among the general public. Since the 1920s, the Japanese government has published character lists periodically to help direct the education of its citizenry through the myriad Chinese characters that exist. There are nearly 3 ...
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Kansai
The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolitan region of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto (Keihanshin region) is the second-most populated in Japan after the Greater Tokyo Area. Name The terms , , and have their roots during the Asuka period. When the old provinces of Japan were established, several provinces in the area around the then-capital Yamato Province were collectively named Kinai and Kinki, both roughly meaning "the neighbourhood of the capital". Kansai (literally ''west of the tollgate'') in its original usage refers to the land west of the Osaka Tollgate (), the border between Yamashiro Province and Ōmi Province (present-day Kyoto and Shiga prefectures).Entry for . Kōjien, fifth edition, 1998, During the Kamakura period, this border was redefined to include Ōmi and I ...
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Kamigata
Kamigata (上方) was the colloquial term for a region today called Kansai region, Kansai (''kan'', barrier; ''sai'', west) in Japan. This large area encompasses the cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. The term was also sometimes used to refer only to Kyoto city. The term is used particularly when discussing elements of Edo period urban culture such as ukiyo-e and kabuki, and when making a comparison to the urban culture of the Edo/Tokyo region. The term was no longer used as name for the Kansai provinces when Emperor Meiji moved to Edo in 1868. An account described Kamigata suji as one of the two regions that emerged from the division of Japan for the purpose of taxation with the other being Kwanto-suji. Kabuki, ukiyo-e, and many of the other related fields of popular and urban culture of the Edo period in fact originated in Kamigata before being transmitted to Edo. The vast majority of scholarship on the urban culture of the Edo period (1603–1867), even today, focuses on cultur ...
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Yabo
is a Japanese term describing something that is unaesthetic or unappealing. ''Yabo'' is the antonym of ''iki''. ''Busui'' (無粋), literally "non-''iki''", is synonymous with ''yabo''. A non-''iki'' thing is not necessarily ''yabo'' but probably is. Something that is ''yabo'' is usually unrefined, gigantic, coarse, childish, colorful, self-conscious, permanent, loud, superficial, vulgar, snobbish, boorish, etc. The word ''yabo'' was often used by city dwellers, or ''Chōnin'' (especially those of Edo). It often refers to samurai and farmers ('' nomin)'' from outside Edo, but could also be applied to another ''chonin''. The city dwellers of Edo sometimes called themselves '' Edokko'' (similar to ''New Yorker'' or ''Parisian''). Proud of having been born and raised in Edo, they had a tendency to despise outsiders. However, the origins of many chonin could be traced back to other areas and backgrounds. The meaning of the term has expanded and generalized through the modernizatio ...
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Soba
Soba ( or , "buckwheat") are Japanese noodles made primarily from buckwheat flour, with a small amount of wheat flour mixed in. It has an ashen brown color, and a slightly grainy texture. The noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or hot in a noodle soup. They are used in a wide variety of dishes. In Japan, soba noodles can be found at fast food venues like to expensive specialty restaurants. Dried soba noodles are sold in stores, along with ''List of Japanese condiments#Mentsuyu, men-tsuyu'', or instant noodle broth, to make home preparation easy. The amino acid balance of the protein in buckwheat, and therefore in soba, is well matched to the needs of humans and can complement the amino acid deficiencies of other staples such as rice and wheat (see protein combining). The tradition of eating soba arose in the Edo period. Etymology The word ''soba'' (蕎麦) means "buckwheat" (''Fagopyrum esculentum''). The full name for buckwheat noodles is ''soba-kiri' ...
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Tempura
is a typical Japanese dish that usually consists of seafood and vegetables that have been coated in a thin batter and deep-fried. Tempura originated in the 16th century, when Portuguese Jesuits brought the Western-style cooking method of coating foods with flour and frying, via Nanban trade. Preparation Batter A light batter is made of iced water, eggs, and soft wheat flour (cake, pastry or all-purpose flour). Sometimes baking soda or baking powder is added to make the batter light. Using sparkling water in place of plain water has a similar effect. Tempura batter is traditionally mixed in small batches using chopsticks for only a few seconds, leaving lumps in the mixture that, along with the cold batter temperature, result in a unique fluffy and crisp tempura structure when cooked. The batter is often kept cold by adding ice or placing the bowl inside a larger bowl with ice. Overmixing the batter will activate wheat gluten, which causes the flour mixture to beco ...
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