The Aesthetics of Transience in Japanese Culture: Wabi-sabi, Impermanence, and the Philosophy of Décoïncidence

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26485/AI/2025/27/8

Keywords:

Wabi-sabi, Japanese aesthetics, Impermanence, Tea ceremony (chanoyu), Transience, Décoïncidence

Abstract

The article examines the concept of wabi-sabi as the foundation of Japanese aesthetics, emphasizing its role in art and everyday life. Wabi-sabi celebrates the beauty of imperfection, impermanence and natural decay, which is expressed in practices such as the tea ceremony (chanoyu). In the context of art, this aesthetic allows for reflection on the transience of existence, contrasting with the Western tradition of vanitas. The wabi-sabi aesthetic evokes an emotional response akin to Julien’s notion of dé-coïncidence – the experience of contradiction between what is enduring and what is ephemeral, a key element of the Japanese approach to impermanence. The article juxtaposes these manifestations of transience, showcasing both universal and culturally specific ways of coping with the passage of time.

Author Biography

Justyna Pilarska, University of Wroclaw

PhD after habilitation, Professor at the University of Wrocław, is an intercultural pedagogue whose scholarly work encompasses the pedagogy of place, religious syncretism and cultural diversity, particularly as these themes emerge at the crossroads of the Orient and the Occident. With over two decades of qualitative field research conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Japan, she brings empirical insight to her studies. She is also an architectural educator and serves as a member of the Methodology of Educational Research Section within the Committee on Pedagogical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN). As a professor at the University of Wrocław, her research delves deeply into Japanese cultural constructs, syncretic traditions intertwining Shintō and Buddhism, and their educational implications, drawing on extensive fieldwork to illuminate the intersections of spatial culture and pedagogy. Selected publications: An emancipatory paradigm for participatory research on wartime childhood: War Childhood Museum in Sarajevo case study. “Przegląd Badań Edukacyjnych”, 2024, 1(46), 5–23; Japoński synkretyzm wyznaniowy. “Edukacja Międzykulturowa”, 2024, 25(2), 42-54; Komunikacja w kulturze japońskiego kolektywizmu – wybrane koncepty. “Kultura i Edukacja”, 2024, 144(2), 225-241; Pilarska, J., & Miler-Ogórkiewicz, N. (2023). Ku pedagogiczności architektury: Przyczynek do transdyscyplinarnej dyskusji [Toward pedagogicality of architecture: A contribution to a transdisciplinary discussion]. “Pedagogika Społeczna”, 22, 4[90]), 55-71; Sarajewo jako locus educandi: Studium przypadku. Kraków: Oficyna Wydawnicza Impuls; Constructivist paradigm and phenomenological qualitative research design. In A. Pabel, J. Pryce, A. Anderson (Eds.), Research paradigm considerations for emerging scholars, pp. 64-83. Bristol: Channel View Publications.

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Published

2025-12-17

Issue

Vol. 27 (2025): De-coïncidence in Art: A Challenge or a Solution?

Section

Part II. International and Comparative Contexts - ARTICLES

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