In Praise of Emptiness: A Conversation with Kenya Hara
Acclaimed designer and theorist Kenya Hara shares his thoughts on simplicity versus emptiness
I was asked to be the art director of MUJI in 2001, a time when the brand was already successful. At that time, my role was to explain the MUJI concept to the world. I was trying to find the best way to explain the concept and it was then that I found the word ‘emptiness’, and thought emptiness was the opposite of simplicity.
Examples of simplicity first emerged in the Western context one hundred and fifty years ago as part of the modernist movement. The world of design had begun with an extremely flamboyant and decorative aspect. Kings were symbols of great power and in order to show their great power, decoration was used. Everything that was produced in those times was very decorative. In China, they created highly decorative motifs — the dragon, for example, is a fantastic detail for creating decoration and ornamentation. In India, too, they created very fantastic decorative motifs. In Islamic countries, they created complicated geometric patterns to show the authority of Islam. And in Europe at the height of Baroque and Rococo styles, everything was created to show the power of the kings. The world at that time considered detail a means of decoration.
But then society started to change, and then came modernism. The basic situation of people and society changed, and our relationships with our homes and the use of materials and function drastically changed.
Simplicity is first found in that situation. Bauhaus championed this concept and subsequent waves of modernism moved it even further. As a student of design, I learned a lot from that movement.
But modernism was founded in Europe. When we look at our context — the Japanese context — we were already living in minimal interiors with a minimal way of thinking. Japanese people were already using very minimal tools more than three hundred and fifty years before modernism. So the biggest question was, what should we call this way of designing? So I used the word ‘emptiness’ in this situation.
As you already know, the Japanese archipelago is on the eastern tip of Eurasia, a very special geographical location. If you tilted the Eurasia plate ninety degrees, the Japanese archipelago would be at the bottom of Eurasia. And if you think about it like a pachinko machine, the ball is coming from the top and the Japanese archipelago is a kind of saucer that can gather every kind of ball that’s falling from the top — from Rome, India, China. Many balls fell into the Japanese archipelago. The Japanese were influenced by the whole world; when Eurasia was flamboyant with decoration, Japan was also decorative.
But in the middle of the fifteenth century there was a very big civil war, the Ōnin War, that lasted about ten years in Kyoto. At that time Kyoto was not a big city. During that ten years everything was destroyed. Temples were destroyed, kimono were burned, beautiful statues were destroyed. Not all, but most of the traditional heritage was damaged. The shogun during that period was Yoshimasa Ashikaga and he had a great eye. Within his district he was able to fund fantastic art, but he had no ability to control the political situation. He gave the position of shogun to his son and retired. He then created a new Japanese style.
In Higashiyama in the eastern mountains of Kyoto, he created the Ginkaku-ji temple, where he retired and spent his days after his time as shogun. The new culture founded at that time is called Higashiyama, and Ginkaku-ji temple continues to be a fantastic place to study all that was created by Yoshimasa Ashikaga. Inside, it’s a very Japanese space with tatami flooring and shoji sliding doors that open to reveal a perfectly manicured garden. It’s very minimal, but very beautiful at the same time — a very typical Japanese style.
At that time the Zen garden was created. Zen had come from China but there was no such minimal garden in China. The Japanese are the ones who created the very minimal garden. They think that an empty garden is more likely to be enjoyed by people because it’s empty. So people who see the garden see themselves in this empty space and they are able to create their own story in this space. The emptiness is a fantastic way to communicate something that we can’t achieve directly. In an empty teahouse, the guest and the host use empty tools, empty tea cups, empty decorations and are able to use their own imagination.
Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement), the tea ceremony, interior design, gardening, architecture and Noh plays were all created during that period. Behind every aspect of Japanese art is the concept of emptiness. But the reason why Japanese style is so minimal is not conveyed by the concept of simplicity. We should separate the concepts of emptiness and simplicity.
Imagine, for example, a well-designed knife. The handle of the Henckels knife, a three- dimensional shape, is really great. When I hold it, the place to rest my fingers is easy and natural. I always use these knives when I cook. Now please imagine another knife. The Japanese yanagi-ba is a very simple blade with a plain handle. This handle is empty. We can handle it in any way, in any position. This kind of freedom allows chefs great possibilities. The Henckels knife is a result of simplicity. The yanagi-ba is the result of thinking of emptiness. This difference illustrates the difference between the Western way of thinking and the Japanese way of thinking.
In regard to MUJI, MUJI is not just a product brand. MUJI is a way of thinking to create a counter concept of everything. MUJI wouldn’t create a simple table for the younger generation and another simple table for the older generation. MUJI would only create one table. This is empty. The usage of this table can be changed, depending on the context. Similarly, the MUJI mattress has no headboard. The mattress can be used as a bed of course, but it can also be used as a sofa. So in this way, MUJI’s products are empty, not simplistic. MUJI’s products are designed to allow a fantastic freedom for the user. That is the simple objective of MUJI.
As told to / Suzy Annetta
