柳宗悦の想像力について : 朝鮮と日本の発見をめぐって

Abstract

In the era when Mr.Soetsu Yanagi lived, Japan was in an era of growth and war from the end of the Meiji era to the Showa era. But the two spiritual fathers - Mr.Kaishu Katsu and Mr. Jigoro Kanou- brought up Soetsu Yanagi in a very liberal environment. Mr. Yanagi did not believe that reason and logical way led to human understanding, but rather deprived human freedom. He thought that what is needed to insight human freedom, human diversity and discordant world is the imagination beyond reason. But the imagination is not universal either. For this reason, Yanagi’s central problem was how to gain imagination and a deeper understanding on the world. Soetsu was inspired by the research of William Blake and the stone Buddha temple in Gyeongju-Korea. And the next interest of him is Mokujiki Budda in Japan. It led to the discovery of Korea and Japan. He will make imagination work for various subjects. It was also a work to confirm each individuality and empathy while comparing various things. There was a round-trip movement of imagination towards mutual understanding. This has become a strategic way of Yanagi to understand the diverse world.