日本文化において、「間」ほど奥深く、かつ翻訳しがたい概念は他にないかもしれません。それは単なる空白でもなければ、ただの沈黙でもなく、意味と緊張をはらんだ余白とでも呼ぶべきものです。建築、音楽、演劇、武道、茶道、そして日々の会話に至るまで、間の美学は日本人の感性のあらゆる層に深く浸透しています。
In Japanese culture, there is perhaps no concept deeper, or more resistant to translation, than ma. It is neither mere blank space nor mere silence, but rather what one might call a pregnant void charged with meaning and tension. From architecture, music, and theater to martial arts, the tea ceremony, and the rhythms of everyday conversation, the aesthetics of ma have soaked through every stratum of the Japanese sensibility.