Small is Beautiful

For centuries, the Japanese have valued small-sized objects for practical and spiritual reasons. The island’s limited resources along with the Buddhist perception of minimalism helped Japan evolve a cultural tendency to find beauty in the small and fine. The size of traditional Japanese art juxtaposes the impressively intricate embellishments, aesthetic perfection, and extensive interpretations of legends, folk tales, and religious traditions. In fact, the realistic depictions provide an inexhaustible source of information about the customs, symbols, stories, and concepts of various periods in Japanese history. Explore beauty through the intricacies and profound concepts embedded in small Japanese art.