「日本の面影」というタイトルがいい。この短い言葉にエバレットさんの日本文化への想いが見事に集約されている。
これはラフカディオ・ハーン（小泉八雲）の生涯を描いた小説と同じタイトルでもある。日本の洗練された精神文化に深い愛着をもった彼は、近代化の名の下で物質文明への道を進み続ける明治日本が、伝統文化をないがしろにしていることを憂えた。優しく、美しい日本が次第に遠くへ消えていくことを惜しんだ。そのひとの一生を描く言葉として、「日本の面影」はぴったりだ。それは日本の「景色」でも「姿」でもない。
能の『井筒』の末尾。在原業平の形見の衣装をまとった女（実は彼と契りを交わした紀有常の亡霊）が、旅ゆく僧の前で業平がのりうつったように舞い始める。僧がそばの井筒の水鏡を覗き込むと、そこに映っていたのは「業平の面影」であった。地謡は続ける。「亡婦魄霊（ぼうふはくれい）の姿は凋（しぼ）める花の、色無うて匂ひ・・・」。ここで水に映ったのは、あくまで業平の「面影」でなければならない。「姿」ではない。
エバレットさんが日本文化に対して抱く愛おしみは、限りなく深い。それはとりわけ道具とそこに秘められた匠の世界に向けられている。西洋では伝統的に、ひとは理性をもつから自然より上位にあると考え、科学技術を使って自分に都合のよいように自然物に手を加えてきた。そこに道具が生まれた。また感動や世界観を表現するものとして芸術作品が生まれた。いずれも人間が手を加えたことにより自然物になかった価値が付与されるのだと哲学者マルティン・ハイデッガーは言う。道具においては利便性や機能性を徹底的に追及し、自然の制約に挑戦する。芸術作品では自然にない人工的な美しさを創造し、主張する。従って芸術作品は工芸品より地位が高い。
日本では違う。ひとは自然の一部にすぎない。逆らわずその広く深い懐に抱かれて生きてきた。道具をつくるときは、竹や枝など自然の一部を借り、その素材を生かし、それがもつ力を最大に活用した。感動や祈りなどの芸術表現も、道具の中で表現した。かくして縄文土器も茶碗も風呂敷も、道具であるとともに芸術作品でもあり、自然の美が、日常生活の中に居場所をみつける。そこに日本の道具―茶道具から大工の使うのこぎりに至るまで―の魅力がある。
しかし日本の誇る伝統工芸が失われつつある。明治政府の文明開化政策が、短期成果主義へと形を変えて今の社会を追い立てているからだ。機能や効率、スピードが規範となった社会では、「てまひま」かける伝統工芸品は道具として生きるのが難しい。大量生産製品の方が安くて、手軽だ。そして経済偏重が芸術を脇に押しやっている社会では、匠の世界の行き先は博物館しかない。
エバレットさんはこの事態を憂い、それを湿板写真という技法を使って表現している。江戸時代のこの技術ほど、消えつつある、奥深くもはかない、彼にとっての「日本の面影」を映すのに適した手法はあるだろうか？
I like the (Japanese) title, "The World of Japanese Omokage."It perfectly summarizes Everett-san’s feelings for the Japanese culture.
This is also the title of the novel depicting the life of Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo). Lafcadio, who had developed a deep affection for Japan’s sophisticated spiritual culture, lamented that Japan during the Meiji Era kept moving toward the road to material civilization under the name of modernization and ignored traditional culture. He felt loath to part from beautiful Japan that seemed to gradually flicker out in the distance. “The World of Japanese Omokage” is a perfect word to describe the life of such person. It is not about a “landscape” or “image” of Japan.
At the end of the Noh play, “Izutsu (The Well Cradle),” a woman dressed in Ariwara no Narihira’s headdress and gown (who is actually a ghost of Ki no Aritsune, who exchanged a promise with Narihira to marry him) starts to dance in front of a travelling monk as if she was possessed by Narihira. When the monk glanced into the water mirror inside the water cradle (a wooden frame around a well), the reflection on the water he saw was a glimpse of Narihira. The Noh chorus continues. ”The image of the ghost of a deceased lady is like a wilted flower, colorless yet its fragrance lingers…” The reflection had to be the “lingering image of” Narihira, not just an “image.”
The endearing feelings and respects that Everett-san has towards the Japanese culture are boundlessly profound. They are particularly directed to tools and the world of craftsmanship that is hidden behind tools. In the West, human-beings have been traditionally thought to stand above nature because we are rational. They exploited science and technology to alter natural things to make those things more convenient for people. Thus tools were born. Artworks, on the other hand, were born to express sensations or interpretation of the world. In either case, a philosopher, Martin Heidegger, said the human act of making modifications to natural things add values that were not intrinsic to them. In the case of tools, convenience and functionality are thoroughly pursued and constraints set by nature are challenged. In artworks, artificial beauty that does not exist in nature is created and stressed. Consequently, artworks enjoy a higher status than craftworks.
It is different in Japan. We consider human-beings only as a part of nature. We have been living, without going against nature, simply being embraced by its vast and deep heart. When making tools, we borrowed a part of nature such as bamboos or branches, made the most of what materials could offer to maximize the power they had. Artistic expressions such as emotions or prayers were also expressed in tools. That is how Jomon ware, china bowls or furoshikis are all considered tools but also artworks at the same time. Natural beauty finds its place in our everyday lives and there lies the allure of Japanese tools, whether they are tea making utensils or saws that carpenters use.
Traditional crafts that Japan has been proud of, however, seem to be vanishing. The cultural enlightenment policy pushed by the Meiji Government transformed itself into a short-term merit-based system and is snapping at our feet in the present society. In this society where functionality, efficiency and speed have become the norm, traditional craftworks that require a great deal of time and care have difficulty surviving. Mass-produced products are cheaper, simpler and more convenient. In this society where more emphasis is placed on economy, and arts are pushed aside, the only place the world of craftsmanship could go to would be a museum.
Everett-san feels sad and concerned about this state of affairs and expresses that feeling using a technique called wet plate collodion photography. I cannot think of anything that could be more appropriate for reflecting his “The World of Japanese Omokage” than this technique from the Edo period that is vanishing, profound and ephemeral.