Shizen: Revisualizing Nature in Tanizaki’s Aestheticization of Shadows

This magazine article explores the ethico-aesthetic revisualization of Tanizaki's shadows in his work 'In Praise of Shadows'. By elaborating the aesthetic tension between the interiors of Starbucks Ninenzaka and consumerist advertising, I propose in this essay that the Japanese aestheticization of shadows acts as a strong criticism against the neoliberal compulsion for both consumption and production. The Japanese aesthetic principles mono no aware, wabi, and yugen are construed as embodiments of nature via the Oriental sensibility, as defined in the paper. Thus, an Oriental conceptualization of nature (shizen), in contrast to the Western representation of nature, is expressed in this paper as the primary quality essential in Tanizaki's shadows and traditional Japanese interior design that serves as a promising critique of consumerism.