Summer 2017
“奥, oku, expressing a distinctive Japanese sense of space, has long been a part of the vocabulary of daily life. The term with respect to space is invariably premised on the idea of okuyuki, or depth, signifying relative distance or the sense of distance within a given space. The Japanese distinguish an innermost portion even when a space measures only a hundred meters - or, for that matter, only ten meters - in extent, and carefully lay out a route leading to that portion. Oku also has a number of abstract connotations, including profundity, unfathomability, so that the word is used to describe not only physical but psychological depth. It is interesting to note how often the Japanese use the word in adjectival form. Such usages include oku-dokoro (inner place), oku-guchi (inner entrance), oku-sha (inner shrine), oku-yama (mountain recesses), and oku-zashiki (inner room), all relevant to the notion of physical space; oku-gi (secret or hidden principles) and oku-den (secret mysteries of an art), referring to things invisible but present in hidden form. Evident in the use of all these words is a tendency to recognize and esteem what is hidden, invisible, or secret.”
Nurturing Dreams, Fumihiko Maki