Latest / It's All Japanese to Me / Ep. 9 — Ma: space, time, and the gap between

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Ep. 9 — Ma: space, time, and the gap between · It's All Japanese to Me

• 0:00
  [music]
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm Rikuto.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: So today's word is ma.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: In English, you sometimes see it translated as negative space, but that is only a part of it.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: In Japanese, it's very ordinary words, and it covers more than just a space.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: The digital digestion gives a long list of meanings.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: The first is the space between things that are lined up.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: A gap.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Then a room in a house.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Then time.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: The time between one thing and the next.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Or a free moment.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Then it gets more specific, for example, a pause in silence in conversation.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: The dictionary's example is, in talking, ma is important.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: And in traditional music,
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: dance or theatre,
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: it is the interval between beats, between movements or between lines.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: From there it also comes to mean rhythm or tempo.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: For example, taking ma or missing the ma.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: It can also mean the right moment or the mood of a situation.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: So ma actually moves quite easily between space and time.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: It is also used as a counter for rooms, a house with futama.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: It has two rooms, for example.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Then Chanoma is the living room.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: It literally is a tea room.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: And also Tokonoma is the alcove in a Japanese room.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: In design and architecture,
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: one well-known moment for this world was in an exhibition called Ma Space Time
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: in Japan.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: According to Art Platform Japan, it started in Paris in 1978.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: It was organized by the Festival d'Automne and the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: And the architect, Isozaki Arata, was the curator and then traveled to North America and Europe.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Here's one more everyday word that uses ma.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Manuke means a fool or a silly mistake.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: It is written with the character for ma and the character for coming out or missing.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: I don't exactly know the history of this word but I think it's an interesting usage.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: So negative space isn't wrong but it only covers one part of the word I think.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, that is it for today's episode about ma.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much for listening and see you next time.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 3:28
  [music]