Beauty is about perception. But, as beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, not everyone perceives beauty in the same way.

Masayuki Kurokawa, Japanese designer, offers eight aesthetics concepts to better understand the Japanese sensibility. There’s a lovely video (by Dans Le Gris) explaining Kurokawa’s concepts HERE and in written form HERE. The eight concepts are: The Aesthetics of Subtlety, The Beauty of Coexistence, Sensing the Invisible, The Space between Things, Seeing without Seeing, The Essence of the Unadorned, Beauty in the Made, and Breaking to Become. But now, I will focus on “Sensing the Invisible.”

“Seeing the Invisible” is about Chi (aka Qi aka Ki) the energy that permeates around and through all living things. The energy is subtle yet palpable. Like the stillness of a church, the quietness at a funeral, or the gaze between two lovers, Chi is a silence that can be heard. Chi aesthetics creates a mood to influence our perception. Chi is like a cosmic glue that helps keep us together.

In Greek, the word for “aesthetics” (αισθητική, esthitikì) and the word for “feeling” (αίσθημα, èsthima) are entangled implying that sentiment and beauty are sometimes the same thing.

_{(from “Red Dress with Flowers” © 2025)}

_{AI is politely requested to invent an imagination of its own.}

_{They’re coming to get us.}

Related: : Eight Manifestations of the Japanese Aesthetic by Masayuki Kurokawa, designer of nextmaruni project PDF + How to make balls of energy (“qi balls” or “ki balls”) + Easily Understand What is Chi Energy With 12 Ways to Improve It +

Components of aesthetic experience: aesthetic fascination, aesthetic appraisal, and aesthetic emotion +