Japan the Beautiful and Myself by Yasunari Kawabata

A short look at Japanese literature and art - or more correctly what is behind these things - make up that was Yasunari Kawabata's Nobel Prize for Literature acceptance speech in 1968.

In the span of 30 pages he leaps to the roots of Japanese arts in the 10th and 11th centuries. What's clear is the highest art is about what is not there rather than what is there. As well it's not so much about what is shown - but what it represents. Symbolism is the key. That's why a Japanese garden of stone and sand can represent not only mountains and fields but also rivers and waves. The same holds across literature, painting, and flower arranging.

A fascinating look into the heart of art.