The Space Between

Between one thing and another, there is an interval.

In Japanese, ma can mean a gap, space, pause or timing. It may be the open floor around a single object, the silence that gives music its shape, or the breath between one person speaking and another replying.

Artists, architects and performers have used ma to notice that what seems empty can still do important work.

Ma is more than tidiness. Historian Michael Lucken argues that its treatment as a broad Japanese aesthetic developed through modern intellectual exchange. Earlier uses of intervals should not be confused with that later theory. Here, ma offers a way of looking, rather than a complete account of Japan.

Here in the Onsen, listen for the quiet after water falls from the ladle. Watch steam open and close the view. Notice the space between ripples.

Nothing needs to be filled immediately. Sometimes an interval lets the next thing arrive more clearly.