Memory and history define context, how objects carry, lose, or regain meaning, how the ordinary was once exceptional, and how past qualities can still be more creative and potent than the newness of the present. Japan offers one of the most intriguing contexts because the idea of change is itself a cultural value. This is evidently a country that reveres nature – its shapes and colors are idealized in all its art-forms. But beneath the surface there is a deeper appreciation of its temporal aspects. Here, the passing of time gives meaning to life – culture and nature are inseparable and therefore antithetical to the binary view that prevails in most places.
