In Search of Wabi-Sabi: review

I blame George Harrison.

In the mid-1960's, the Beatles guitarist was disillusioned. He seemingly had everything one could want - fame, money, and success - but something was lacking. Rather than think through the problem himself, he went looking for readymade solutions. Spiritualism / religion provides a great off-the-shelf "answer" to life's problems for many. Yet, John Lennon had made his "the Beatles are more popular than Jesus" statement, which had alienated many Christians, especially Americans. Yes, a "mystical" foreign belief system, far from uptight America and dull Britain would fit the bill nicely. Harrison became interested in Hindusim, bought a sitar, and later ('68) headed to India to study meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.



Though the Yogi turned out to be a fraud (he is the subject of the Beatles song Sexy Sadie: "Sexy Sadie, what have you done? You made a fool of everyone"), , this was before the internet, so the Beatles followers had no idea of the letdown - the damage was done. The flowing robes, the vague sense of the exotic and spiritual, the promotion of Transcendental Meditation (not thinking) - all this blended naturally into hippie culture and became a part of it (many of these followers tried to use psychic/spiritual energy to levitate the Pentagon. Yes, I am serious.No, they did not succeed.)

Thanks to George, rock groups started using sitars (a good thing) and the East was exoticized yet again (not a good thing). Hippies made pilgrimages to "spiritual" places such as India and Morocco. Even today, even in Canada, this mindless mindset persists. I recall meeting people in Toronto with plans to travel to Vancouver (Eastern Canada) to "find themselves". Any questions about why they needed to be in Vancouver to do so would be dismissed as "bad vibes" ("bad karma" for any old-timers out there).

This willful ignorance also applies to Japan (the Far East, like Harrison's India). To most non-Japanese, there are two Japans: modern, technological Japan with cosplay, perverts, robots, and "crazy" game shows: basically Tokyo. Japan #1 is more advanced than other countries.



There is also traditional, spiritual Japan with temples, shrines, kanji, and cherry blossoms: basically Kyoto. In Japan #2, everything has a spiritual meaning, origin, or purpose.


To be fair, these Japans are promoted not only by American websites (most promote the "isn't Japan weird?" angle), but also the Japanese themselves. These two Japans - especially/usually "traditional" Japan - are heavily promoted by the tourism industry, books about Japan, TV shows about Japan - basically all media coverage of the place. There is essentially no critical coverage, no Japanese Noam Chomsky. Instead, there's Nihonjinron, the idea that Japan is especially "unique" ("Japanese have different brains than westerners", "Japanese people hear differently than Westerners", "Japanese people have longer intestines" etc. ) I was talking with an older Japanese woman about the concept of wabi-sabi (we'll get to what it is in a bit - basically it's a Japanese concept about imperfection being a natural part of life). She told me, "every Japanese knows what it is". I asked her, what about a person who was Japanese by blood, but was born in the States, didn't speak Japanese, and had never even been to Japan - would they know about this concept? "Of course" was her answer. "It's in the blood.". That the idea of a belief system transferred genetically is racist in concept didn't seem to occur to her (and, polite people here don't talk about those things, so I certainly didn't bring it up).

The BBC have done some great documentaries, including many on Japan. Unfortunately, most seem to promote the "crazy Japan" angle (see Jonathan Ross's Japanorama series). This is understandable, as focusing on modern Japan allows them to talk about sex in Japan - guaranteed viewers! Hmm, sex in Japan or cherry blossoms in Japan…which will I watch? The Japanese themselves have a relevant expression: 花より団子 ("dumplings rather than flowers" - The practical/physical over the sublime/abstract.

Then there's Marcel Theroux's "In Search of Wabi-sabi". This was part of BBC Four's 2009 Hidden Japan series. "Hidden Japan", eh? Hmm, likely focuses on Japan #2: tradition. Well, it does, but….there were four episodes in the series, and the other three were actually pretty good. (actually, "Japan: A Story of Love and Hate" was in fact the most honest portrayal of daily life here that I've seen on film yet. ) Theroux's is the sole stinker.



Who is Marcel Theroux? Maybe he's related to Louis Theroux, who has done some great documentaries on similarly offbeat subjects for BBC. Yep, turns out he is. They're both sons of American travel writer and novelist, Paul Theroux (It's weird - after I watched this, knowing he was the brother of Louis, I wondered if he had a competition thing goin' on. Louis would definitely win, I thought. For some reason, the movie "Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother" flittered thorough my mind. Later, I saw on Wikipedia that he had written a novel titled The Confessions of Mycroft Holmes: a paper chase . Hmm, maybe I'm psychic and the Yogi is trying to tell me something. Well, I'm off to Vancouver folks…).

Wabi-sabi is by nature difficult to define. In fact, it resists definition by definition. In short, it is a recognition of the natural, an acceptance of imperfection and impermanence, and the beauty of simplicity. Though they are not related, I was reminded of Mexico's Day of the Dead, also a recognition and acceptance (indeed a celebration) of the impermanence of our existence.

So, we have a very abstract concept and a man in search of it. What is Sherlock's system? Knowing apparently not even a word of Japanese and armed with only a coffee-table book on wabi-sabi, he sets off for Japan. Speaking (heavily accented) English, his approach is to simply ask everybody he sees what wabi-sabi is. It is when we first see him ask the hotel clerk when he's checking in after arrival that we realize we might not have the best man on the case (she is understandably bemused and confused). He then ventures out into the street and asks random passersby - again in English - what wabi-sabi is. This results in further comical responses, such as some kids, having no idea what this guy is talking about, looking up the kanji on their cel phones. Dude, your brother plays at being naive in his documentaries, not stupid.

Marcel is disappointed by his results and consults his coffee-table book in his hotel room. Marcel leaves the city and heads off to Japan #2, where the elusive wabi-sabi is more likely to be found. In the end, though he has taken part in a tea ceremony, visited museums, and even stayed the night with monks, wabi-sabi still eludes him. "Waitaminit" I can almost hear you saying, "If wabi-sabi is about imperfection, wouldn't the idea that he couldn't find wabi-sabi be a great, natural ending to this doc?". Yes. Yes, it would. However, as Marcel seems doomed to be forever unclear on the concept, he again misses out. Wandering through the forest outside the monastery and, feeling that he needs an ending, Marcel suddenly declares of the forest: "this is my wabi-sabi.".

Hello people that attribute "exotic" characteristics to other (or their own) countries: please don't make a web page, write a book, or make a documentary on a subject unless you have taken some courses or done some research on the subject. It's insulting to the people/country/culture you are exoticising, promotes misinformation, and is simply a waste of everyone's time. Accepting wabi-sabi (impermanence, imperfection, etc.) is natural, but to strive for perfection is human.

Thank you for sitar, though, George.