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© Nippon Suiseki Association Used by permission. The color gradation is really beautiful on this quiet stone, and makes an absolutely excellent autumn display. This stone was in the personal collection of the late physician, Dr. Matsuyama Tomonaka and was shown by Mr. Kasahara in the 3rd Japan Suiseki Exhibition in the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum. The writer is the current owner.
This very thin Tama River stone is (13 x 8 x 3 cm). Provenance is unknown except that the daiza was carved in 1978.
In modern society, there seems to be less and less time for deep re ective thought and observation. A ‘hurry up and wait’ mode is o en the norm. Tra c jams and long lines seem to create a
perpetual frenzy. is hectic pace o en carries over into other parts of our lives, leaving precious few moments for contemplation and re ection. At this hurried pace, important and interesting things can easily be passed by, overlooked and totally missed. Modern schedules are the antithesis of the patience and quiet necessary for viewing stones and suiseki.
In a more western aesthetic many viewers tend to quickly move right past stones that are less obviously suggestive, totally missing the delicate beauty the stone o ers. I have come to call these less pretentious stones “quiet stones.” A quiet stone could be described as a subtle stone which upon contemplation gives the viewer a sense of tranquility and serenity. A quiet stone may not boast crags and sharp jagged ridges, but, rather, is more modest and unassuming, o en with more subdued color. Collectors that adhere to the Japanese
aesthetic greatly appreciate stones which leave the interpretation to the viewer. e Japanese aesthetic admires the subtler view of nature in a stone rather than a more explicit stone that requires little imagination.
is aesthetic can be described with Japanese words like wabi, sabi, and yūgen. Wabi is de ned as ‘simple austere beauty.’ Sabi describes something that has aged well, acquiring a rustic patina. Yūgen translates as ‘profound and re ective grace.’ Quiet stones o en have all three of these characteristics working together. ey are smooth, have well-worn edges and are very weathered. Many quiet stones have a simple beauty, with the kind of patina that makes the observer want to touch it over and over again. e more time spent with the stone, the more it reveals its delicateness and beauty.
This aesthetic of quiet was expressed by Japanese novelist Jun’ichiro Tanizaki in 1933 in his wonderful little book, In Praise of Shadows: “And had we [the Japanese] invented the phonograph and the radio, how much more faithfully they would reproduce the
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