The Japanese words for “space” could change your view of the world

[JGeropoulas]

As someone who’s studied architecture and psychology, I was intrigued by the title of this article. As I read it, I thought of discussions on the forum about the power language exerts on our neurological wiring and perceptions of reality. This article demonstrates how differently minds are programmed by their respective cultures. It also provides some practical insight into how to organize the various spaces in our lives. Interestingly, these four types of spaces all represent values centrally important to us here on the forum. Hope you enjoy it as I did.

The Japanese words for “space” could change your view of the world
Jerrold McGrath
January 18, 2018

When you are the first person to arrive in a meeting room, do you think of it as being empty or full? If you were raised in the West, a meeting room is made for people to meet. Therefore, if there are no people in that room, then of course it must be empty. As philosopher Henk Oosterling remarks, in the West, “a room is empty until someone enters.”

However, in the East, space is understood a bit differently. In Japan, spaces have meanings prior to any activity that happens within them. For example, as a space in Japanese culture is understood by how it shapes relationships, the same meeting room in Tokyo would appear full of symbols and instructions about how interactions can and should occur. In this way, a room is always filled with invisible structures, regardless of its occupants.

Instead of framing space as a relationship between objects and walls, the Japanese concept of space is about the relationships among people. By shifting this view, we can discover an interesting way of thinking about the spaces we make and use in everyday life—and the relationships that they create.

Thinking about spaces in a more ‘Japanese’ way can open up new ways of organizing our lives and focusing on the relationships that matter to us. Building spaces that deepen relationships (wa), generate new knowledge (ba), connect to the world around us (tokoro), and allow moments of quiet and integration (ma) can enrich our experience of the world and that of those around us.

[This article continues with a discussion of real-world examples of each type of space]

https://qz.com/1181019/the-japanese-words-for-space-could-change-your-view-of-the-world/