Japanese tea ceremony, kyu-do (Japanese archery) and other bodily art forms , as well as Japanese gardens and sculptures are rooted in a deep silence.
This silent interaction with space is unique to Japan and has a long history.
In Japanese tradition it is believed that space is a kami (god).
This tradition dates back to the Jomon period over 2,000 years ago.
For the ancient Japanese, space itself was at the same time the womb that gave birth to everything and the kami (god).
There is a word "furumai" in Japanese.
This word means behavior or action or manner, but it is not just that. It means how our actions affect the surrounding space.
"furu" in "furumai" meant the manifestation of the power to transform space.
For example, it was customary to cure a sick person by an act of "furu" (swaying or swinging), or to improve poor luck by an act of "furu".
Wa-no-mai is a dance rooted in the ancient Japanese tradition of this "furu".
No remains of damaged human bones (suggesting violent killing) have been found in the circular settlement areas of the Jomon period in Japan.
Few damaged human bones have been found outside the circular settlement areas, but it can be seen that there were no traces of human-to-human conflict in
circular settlement areas.
The culture of people in the Japanese archipelago, in which space is revered as god, has been passed down to the Asian continent for more than 10,000 years and it
is thought to have become the cornerstone of Asian spiritual culture. (The details are written in "Wa - no - kokoro (The heart of Wa) - Cosmic Spirit" by Kazuki Chiga)
Some ethnic minorities on the Asian continent preserve a culture that seems to be a remnant of it.
In the oldest record written by Chinese people about Japan when there were no letters in Japan, the movements of the people of "Wa-no-kuni" (ancient Japan) are
described as "miyabi".
"miyabi" literally means beauty, but it hints specifically on the way the power of serene space is felt.
This is the visible result of the act of "furu", a sign that this beauty has been firmly established in their bodies.
In ancient times, people from other Asian countries were astonished at the quality of space existing among the Japanese people.
In this same record, Chinese historians described people from other neighboring countries as crude.
(The above details are written in "Wa -no - Kokoro" by kazuki Chiga.)
The foundation of the people who created this serene space, which the ancient Chinese who saw the ancient Japanese for the first time, respected, is believed to be
an unique culture of "ki" derived from the Jomon period.
It is thought that they achieved harmony and life without conflict, by forming space from that perspective.