Abstract

★A Must-Know Concept for Business and Cultural Literacy
★Why Is “Wabi Sabi” Captivating the World?

As one of the essential forms of cultural literacy that every Japanese person should know, this book explores Wabi Sabi—the very essence of Japanese aesthetics. Focusing mainly on its relationship with the tea ceremony, it offers a clear and accessible explanation of this universal concept.
The essence and key insight of Wabi Sabi, a notion that fascinates people around the globe, lies in finding beauty in imperfection and asymmetry—and in finding joy in the incomplete or insufficient. The book also delves into the spirituality that inspired figures such as Apple’s founder, Steve Jobs, examining the Zen philosophy connected to Wabi Sabi. The author, a psychologist and tea master well-versed in international culture, conveys these ideas from a uniquely insightful perspective.

Author’s Information

Born in 1955 in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture.
Graduated from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Letters, majoring in social psychology in 1980. Earned a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Tokyo Graduate School. Since 1989, he has taught at Toyo Eiwa University’s Faculty of Human Sciences as associate professor and later professor, specializing in social psychology, risk psychology, and socio-technical systems.
In 1993, he served as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of Oregon. He has also held key advisory positions, including as consultant to Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry and member of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s policy evaluation committee.
Dr. Okamoto is also a certified Master Trainer in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), a field of applied psychology. He is a member of the Japanese Psychological Association and the Japanese Society of Hypnosis and Medical Psychology.
His tea name is Sōshin.
Since 1996, he has written the long-running column “Lessons of the Tea Spirit” in the magazine Tankō. He serves as a traveling lecturer for the Urasenke Tankō Association and as a board member of the Urasenke Gakuen Professional School of Tea Ceremony.
Recipient of the 13th Tea Culture Contribution Award (2015), he currently serves as Vice President of the Tea Culture Society.