Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that is influenced by the concepts of value and beauty as they connect to the arts. Philosophers throughout time, such as Plato, have presented solid ideas about what artists should create and what people should like. In the world of today people have become more liberal on the philosophy of art resulting in the vast array of modern artist and styles/methods. Aesthetics varies from culture to culture because of people's various apperception, uses, and beliefs about art and beauty. Depending on the critic's perspective, the work of art can be interpreted as having a different meaning than that of the artist's original intent.
             The aesthetics of Japan matured on its own because of Japan's geographic location. The sea protected Japan from foreign invasion and enabled its rulers to control contact with other nations. Isolation allowed Japan's aesthetic art forms to develop on their own until inevitable contact with other cultures took place, such as the Chinese, Buddhist, and even the Western. The Japanese word katachi bears the closest meaning to "art." It means "form and design," implying that art means the something is living and has functional purpose and spiritual simplicity. Harmony in all things is the main theme in Japanese aesthetics; their worldview is nature-based and centered in the beauty of simplicity and harmony with nature, or wabi-sabi.
             Shintoism is the native religion that was created and developed exclusively on the island of Japan. Isolated for most of its history, this folk religion had created its concepts of spirituality and reality as well as methods of expressing them. Shinto people were very pristine and in tune with spiritual forces, called Kamis, that inhabit all things from people and plants to shrines and landmarks. An ancient chronicle reports that "in their myriad world spirits shone like fireflies and every tree and bush could speak" (Paul Watt for the Asia Societ...