Eighteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

This study analyzes four cultural pathways through which Japanese ceramics intervene in the daily lives of Japanese people, namely ceramics and Zen, ceramics and Tea Ceremony, ceramics and Ikebana, ceramics and Japanese cuisine. It discusses how ceramics, as a material carrier of traditional handicrafts, organically integrates with traditional Japanese culture and enters the daily lives of the people. As a result, this ultimately formed the unique ceramic aesthetic taste of the Japanese nation, nurtured the formation of a ceramic handicraft community, and strengthened the next generation’s recognition of the value of Japanese traditional culture. First of all, the study analyzes the artistic characteristics of Japanese ceramic teaware, flowerware and tableware from the aspects of material, forming, decoration and firing method. They all perfectly showcase the aesthetic taste of the Japanese nation, namely natural beauty, simple beauty, incomplete beauty, and implicit beauty. Secondly, the papernpoints out that Zen, Tea Ceremony, Ikebana, and Japanese Cuisine are all important components of traditional Japanese culture. The intermediate role of ceramics in these traditional cultural activities has become an important material carrier for Japanese people to understand traditional handicrafts and establish emotional connections with them. Finally, due to its comprehensive involvement in people’s lives, ceramics have formed a large consumer market for ceramic handicrafts, cultivated ceramic handicraft communities, and promoted the dissemination of Japanese ceramic culture to the West.