Amazon.com description: Product Description: Published in 1930, when Japan was struggling to define and assert its national and cultural identity, The Structure of Iki (Iki no kozo) re-introduced the Japanese to a sophisticated tradition of urbane and spirited stylishness (iki) that was forged in the Edo period. Upon his return from Europe, Kuki Shuzo (1888-1941) made use of the new theoretical frameworks based on Western Continental methodology to redefine iki's significance in Japanese society and culture. By applying Heidegger's hermeneutics to this cultural phenomenon, he attempted to recast traditional understanding in the context of Western aesthetic theory and reestablish the centrality of a purely Japanese sense of "taste." The Structure of Detachment offers a finely crafted, reliable, and thoroughly annotated translation of this seminal work of one of modern Japan's most prominent philosophers. Because of its impact on the modern Japanese understanding of traditional culture and character, The Structure of Iki has inspired great interest and debate among scholars examining Kuki's role in the formation of a national aesthetics in the three critical essays that accompany the translation.