THOUGHTS FROM A TAKAYAMA ROOFTOP

QUESTIONS ABOUT BUDŌ

A constant source of amusement for me is the fact that in the West, people are actually surprised to hear Japanese Bujutsū and Budō spoken of as “arts”. In Japan, when speaking of art, we are talking about shapeless expressions of the Japanese soul, the “Inner Japanese.” One who is not familiar with Japanese culture does not easily understand this; rather, people in the West tend to regard Japanese martial arts as art, only in terms of uniquely thought out and executed physical techniques or ignore artistic qualities completelyl; fascinated instead by the glamour of martial arts as portrayed in movies and television. The West fails to understand that Japanese art transcends physical skill, be it Budō, Shodō, Sumi-e, or the tea ceremony.

What connection could there possibly be between Japanese Bujutsū and Budō with such Japanese aesthetic principles of wabi (simplicity) and sabi (rusticity)? How are they combined with the pragmatic nature of the Japanese? Is there truly a difference between Bujutsū and Budō? These questions, common in the West, I hope to address here.