A review by fcannon
A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics by Donald Richie

3.0

Turns out seventeenth-century tea masters were the original hipsters, elevating the old and ordinary to a refined aesthetic (complicated simplicity). Of course Japan has compartmentalized and codified aesthetics to an extreme (unique?) level -- this essay also reminds us that these concepts have complex histories, in which they were redefined and repurposed to suit elite political and class distinctions. It was an interesting but not inspiring read.