In Praise of Shadows

by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Thomas J. Harper (Translator), Edward G. Seidensticker (Translator)

This eloquent work on the Japanese sense of beauty explores the subtle interplay of shade and light in several important aspects of Japanese life - architecture, drama, food, femininity and literature - and traces the retreat of this mature, shadowy aesthetic tradition before the brighter, more garnish products of Western technology.

Junichiro Tanizaki, one of the most eloquent Japanese novelists, leads readers through 'darkness seen by candlelight' replete with a 'pregnancy of particles like fine, ashes, each particle as luminous as a rainbow'. His flowing, wandering meditation cannot fail to delight all lovers of the traditions of the East.

Genres: Nonfiction, Japan

52 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2024

About the author

Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (谷崎 潤一郎) was a Japanese author, and one of the major writers of modern Japanese literature, perhaps the most popular Japanese novelist after Natsume Sōseki.

Some of his works present a rather shocking world of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions; others, less sensational, subtly portray the dynamics of family life in the context of the rapid changes in 20th-century Japanese society.

Frequently his stories are narrated in the context of a search for cultural identity in which constructions of "the West" and "Japanese tradition" are juxtaposed. The results are complex, ironic, demure, and provocative.

Reviews

[Sarah Rider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meaningful reflections on beauty and its nature. the author's philosophy is that reflection, illumination, and contrast are necessary for further enhancement of any good and beautiful thing simply by the presence of shadows to provide contrast (sloppy summary)

[bella · Rating 3 out of 5]

rip tanizaki you would have HATED cereal cups

[Betzabe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Engaging beginning but then went weird into praising/explaining/justifying feudal lords (who) lose themselves over their boys favourites"...wtf...and then just a rant againts everything which loses the main theme and tries to recover it but it doesn't work.

[Olivia]

Hard to rate as this is a classic with some views that would not really be acceptable today but taken as a product of its time, it is a very interesting meditation on the use of light and shadow in Japanese architecture and more.

[Joshua Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. It’s meditative, fluid, in places something akin to what I’ve been told Proust is like. By this, I mean his capturing of the feelings of a moment in great detail, such as the warm miso soup in a lacquer ware bowl which rest upon his palm. But, of course, the strongest point is that about shadows, but done with reference to a delectable range of subjects.

Read slowly, and meditatively. See the humour in it. I laughed merrily in places. The joy in reading of the apparent absurdity but actual truth of the beauty of temple toilets, where you can sit and enjoy the physical urge, as you contemplate the aesthetic beauty of the things around you. He paints many beautiful pictures in this meandering essay.

[Leila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and thought provoking on many levels.
Unfortunately, I was unable to fully disconnect from the misogyny, ethnocentrism and, to an extent, racism, projected by the author as he reflects about ascetics in Japanese culture.

[Lucy Faria · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a famous restaurant in Kyoto, the Waranjiya, one of the attractions of which was until recently that the dining rooms were lit by candlelight rather than electricity; but when I went there this spring after a long absence, the candles had been replaced by electric lamps in the style of old lanterns. I asked when this had happened, and was told that the change had taken place last year; several of their customers had complained that candlelight was too dim, and so they had been left no choice—but if I preferred the old way they should be happy to bring me a candlestand. Since that was what I had come for, I asked them to do so. And I realized then that only in dim half-light is the true beauty of Japanese lacquerware revealed. The rooms at the Waranjiya are about nine feet square, the size of a comfortable little tearoom, and the alcove pillars and ceilings glow with a faint smoky luster, dark even in the light of the lamp. But in the still dimmer light of the candlestand, as I gazed at the trays and bowls standing in the shadows cast by that flickering point of flame, I discovered in the gloss of this lacquerware a depth and richness like that of a still, dark pond, a beauty I had not before seen. It had not been mere chance, I realized, that our ancestors, having discovered lacquer, had conceived such a fondness for objects finished in it.

[Hen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A poetic and intriguing exposition of the idea of shadows within the lives and histories of 'Oriental' Asia and the ever-encroaching fabricated brightness of the Western world.

Particularly interesting is his exploration of the use of shadows within Chinese architecture - that, though a shadowed dwelling is typical of Chinese architecture was perhaps due to the materials available and the realities of the lived experiences of the times, architects highlighted (ironic phrasing) the beauty and mystery of shadows in an intentional way; not a mere factor but rather a feature to be admired.

"The quality that we call beauty... must always grow from the realities of life."

[Elizabeth Boutwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very much a stream of consiousness about the progression of architecture and “modernisation”/Westernisation of Japan. Not normally a book I would enjoy as I’m not much of an architecture fanatic but I enjoyed his passion and care for his culture and tradition, as well as learning as to why Japanese houses are built (climate, lighting, etc) though he has a SCATHING opinion of westerners. Very enlightening to the opinion of those who were living through this rapid change in Japan.

[Trang Ngo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Người Nhật quả luôn biết cách thích nghi với những hạn chế trong cuộc sống của họ, đương nhiên bản thân họ ko nghĩ đó là hạn chế. Và đỉnh cao hơn là họ có thể khiến người ngoại quốc thay đổi góc nhìn và quay sang trân trọng những "hạn chế" đó của người Nhật.

[Deb Werenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tiny book opened my willing mind to a world previously unseen. I love it when that happens.

[Maj Johansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

.

[Fenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

De Japanse kijk op schoonheid is gewoon zoiets verbluffends en poetisch, mooi om te lezen.

[Amalie]

I liked the parts about the miso bowls the rest read like the usual rant from an angry man