Japanese Design, Part 4 – Iki

In previous weeks we have explored the ideas of Wabi-Sabi, Shibui and Miyabi, this week, Iki.

The oldest and widest spread of all the Japanese aesthetics, second to wabi-sabi, is iki. The idea of iki is inherently grained into Japanese culture, to the point where sometimes it is (wrongly) assumed that anything out of Japan is iki. One issue of this is that it is so intrinsic to the Japanese people, they don’t often talk or write about it. And subsequently it is difficult to understand.

There are of course definitions of the word that can be found easily, but as with all Japanese ideals and aesthetics, they don’t seem to do the idea justice. The ideas are always far more wide reaching and more implied then definitions allow.

To use the Wikipedia definition iki is:

‘Iki is an expression of simplicity, sophistication, spontaneity, and originality. It is ephemeral, romantic, straightforward, measured, audacious, smart, and unselfconscious.

Iki is not overly refined, pretentious, complicated, showy, slick, coquettish, or, generally, cute. At the same time, iki may exhibit any of those traits in a smart, direct, and unabashed manner.’

Which all seems slightly contradictory, especially the second paragraph. Even more so when you consider that as a class the samurai were deemed to be devoid completely of iki, yet at the same time individual warriors could often display iki traits.

So what is it?

One thing that is clear is that iki always refer to something human, a human creation or a spontaneous human phenomenon, not a natural one. It is a very human concept.

With regards to design, according to the seminal book on the subject: The Structure of “Iki” by Kuki Shūzō, iki is found in straight lines, typically parallel vertical lines. Colours that represent iki are certain greys, browns and blues.  Any lighting must be subdued, such as indirect sunlight or a dimly lit lantern.

He goes onto say:

‘The scales, melodies, and rhythms of various kinds of music are correspondingly iki, insofar as Architecture is frozen music, and music as flowing architecture”.