It's All Japanese to Me

Today’s word is “getemono.” A large Japanese dictionary gives it two meanings: cheap, simple everyday goods, and things that people see as strange. I talk about the everyday wares that Yanagi Sōetsu bought at temple and shrine markets in Kyoto, which were called “getemono” there, and share my own impression of the line between the two meanings.

Sources:

* Kotobank, “Getemono” (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, Japanese)

* Mie Prefectural Art Museum, “Mingei” (Japanese)

Today’s word is “kintsugi,” joining with gold. I look at what a Japanese dictionary says about it: the pieces are held together with urushi lacquer, the gold is on the surface, and the seams are called “keshiki,” a landscape. I also share how I see kintsugi myself, as something that shows a piece is one of a kind.

Sources:

* Kotobank, “Kintsugi” (Digital Daijisen, Japanese)

* Merriam-Webster, “kintsugi”

Today’s word is “mitate,” seeing one thing as another. I talk about how the Omotesenke school of tea explains the word, two well-known stories about Sen no Rikyū, stone water basins in gardens made from stones that once had a different job, and how mitate happens at flea markets and antique markets.

Sources:

* Omotesenke Fushin’an, “Mitate” (Japanese)

* Omotesenke Fushin’an, glossary: “Nijiriguchi” (Japanese)

* JAANUS, “mitatemono chouzubachi”

* Kotobank, “Mitate” (Japanese)

Today’s word is “yō no bi,” the beauty of use. I talk about Yanagi Sōetsu and the mingei movement, the difference between “yō no bi” and functional beauty, and how I sense it in old things at home and at flea markets and antique markets.

Sources:

* Kotobank, “Yanagi Sōetsu” (Japanese)

* Mie Prefectural Art Museum, “Mingei” (Japanese)

* KOGEI STANDARD, “Japanese Aesthetic Sense: Yo-no-bi”

* The Japan Folk Crafts Museum

In this first episode, I introduce myself and No-to-Katachi (Field & Form), a small research and design unit in Japan, and share why I’m starting this podcast.

Each episode, I pick one Japanese word, often about craft or design, and explain what it means. The format is inspired by Lobsterr FM, a Japanese podcast that picks one keyword each episode.