KOKORO ATLAS
A map of the ideas behind everyday Japan — explained from primary sources, with the original text always shown.
The map
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Mind
Why the inner life is arranged the way it is — apology, restraint, the self that is taken for granted.
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Spirit
Gods, nature, and the rites that outlive belief.
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Way
The disciplines of the hand — tea, craft, martial form, and the logic of repetition.
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Society
The rules governing the space between people — the bow, the silence, the unspoken reading of a room.
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Education
How the young are shaped — the swept classroom, the club, the entrance exam.
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History
The lines from the past that still act on the present. Not a survey of what happened.
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Story
Narrative and imagination — including why the villain is so often given a case to make.
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Machine
Bullet trains and fax machines — the engineering of ordinary life.