Observation and Re-creation of Nature

Minutiae of nature

The agricultural society’s need to know when to plant, cultivate, and harvest its crops has sharpened the Japanese sensitivity to seasonal changes, heightening their awareness of the minutiae of nature—the wind in the pines and the singing of insects—and giving rise to a wide variety of arts and customs embodying this sensitivity.

Landscapes did not become an accepted subject for Western painting until the 17th century, but in Japan they were already a major theme of the sansui-ga painting introduced from China in the Kamakura period (12th century).

Nature has played a major part in Japan literature as well, figuring prominently in seasonal reference in waka and haiku poetry and in the custom of using seasonal introductions in correspondence and other writing. Concept of observing and re-creation of nature is also key ingredient of Japanese garden design and art.