Between Philosophy and Monsters: Inoue Enryo and a Journey Through the Invisible
Between Philosophy and Monsters: Inoue Enryo and a Journey Through the "Invisible"
In the Meiji era, in Nakano, Tokyo, there was a park with a strange name: Tetsugakudo Park.
The Six Sages' Platform, the Four Sages' Hall, the Ghost Plum Blossom, the Monster Gate... These buildings stand quietly, like the setting of a story.
The person who designed this mysterious space was a philosopher named Inoue Enryo (1858-1919).
He was a Buddhist monk who studied philosophy at the University of Tokyo and founded the Philosophy Institute, the predecessor of Toyo University.
However, his true strength lies in his attempt to go beyond the bounds of mere academic study and to discuss questions such as "What is philosophy?", "What are monsters?", and "What is a human being?" in the language of ordinary people, in space, and through travel.
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[To open up philosophy]
Inoue Enryo founded the Philosophy Museum in 1887.
At that time, Japan was in the midst of a wave of civilization and enlightenment, and Western learning was being imported as something "highbrow."
However, Enryō was unwilling to leave philosophy "the domain of only a select few intellectuals."
"Philosophy is for everyone. Philosophy lives in our daily lives."
Believing this, he traveled around the country giving lectures and introduced a "distributed staff system" similar to correspondence education.
He also wrote a storytelling-style book called "An Evening of Philosophy," in which he spoke about philosophy.
His storytelling style is light-hearted, like a rakugo story, but at the same time profound.
For example, when asked, "What is life?" he responds:
"Life is like a dream. However, knowing that a dream is a dream is the beginning of philosophy."
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[To "solve" the mystery of the monsters]
Inoue Enryo's other face is that of the "Monster Doctor."
He traveled all over the country, collecting local yokai folklore and analyzing it scientifically and psychologically.
The results of his research were compiled into books such as "Lectures on Yokai Studies" and "One Hundred Tales about Yokai."
"Yokai are projections of unsolved natural phenomena and human psychology."
He explained:
But he didn't just "reject superstition."
Rather, it is the imagination and fear that people have of the "invisible" thing known as yokai that is the source of this fear.
He discovered the essential sensitivity of human beings.
Yokai are a symbol of the "blank space" that cannot be explained by reason.
And it is precisely by looking at this blank space from a philosophical perspective that
It may have been a "place of the heart" in the modern, rational age.
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[Philosophy residing in space]
Tetsugakudo Park is the crystallization of Inoue Enryo's ideas.
There are many things to see, such as the "Four Sages Hall (enshrines Confucius, Buddha, Socrates, and Kant)" and the "Six Sages' Platform (six pillars symbolizing the wise men of the East and the West)."
There are buildings scattered around the area that embody philosophy in space.
It's not just a monument.
It is a philosophical walking path that encourages visitors to "think while walking."
Enryō designed his architecture and gardens as "devices for contemplation."
This is exactly the idea behind WABISUKE's goal of "resonating space and words."
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[Reading Inoue Enryo Now]
The modern era is one in which information is overflowing and rationality and efficiency rule.
However, on the other hand, fundamental questions such as "Why do we do it?" and "What is the purpose of life?"
It makes us stop in our tracks at random moments.
Inoue Enryo's philosophy answers these questions as follows:
"You don't have to come up with an answer right away." "First, listen carefully to what you can't see."
He speaks to me.
Yokai, philosophy, and poetry.
Everything is born from a dialogue with the "invisible."
The stories and spaces that WABISUKE weave are also
It is in these "blank spaces" that it quietly lives on.
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[References/Recommendations]
・Inoue Enryo's Lectures on Monster Studies, An Evening Talk on Philosophy, and A Lively Discussion on Buddhism
・Toyo University Tetsugakudo Park Official Website ・"Inoue Enryo and the Spiritual History of Modern Japan" (Kodansha Academic Library)