Japanese Aesthetics

The Japanese lunchbox aesthetic is catching on in the US, according to this article in the New York Times. But how did such an aesthetic come about in Japan? The New York Times editors asked four experts, including John Maeda (The Laws of Simplicity), for their theories on why so much value is placed on aesthetics in Japan.

Of course, we have more answers in our book The Aesthetics of the Japanese Lunchbox by Kenji Ekuan, who in 1998 introduced his "lunchbox theory" as the key to understanding Japanese civilization.