Thoughts on "Experience of Space in Japan." Implications for Music Therapy

Abstract

This article presents thoughts on the experience of space, developed from a research study I have been doing during two years immersed in a very singular context where the familiar university environment contrasted with the – for me – completely unknown Japanese culture. The research study explains my motivation as well as my theme of the research: "the experience of space." The influence that my situation of being immersed in Japanese culture had on my hypothesis and research process are also developed. The study introduces some aspects of my experience of space in two different contexts: the context of everyday life experiences in Japan and the context of the butoh dance. Each context helped me to discover aspects of the experience of space, and possible implications for the music therapy context are then developed. In the study I sum up some of the discoveries underlining the negative and positive aspects this research process has led to. Finally, I evoke the learning of "humility," which is the dimension of the process most difficult to share in this article. The research study brought up some interesting subjects to investigate more in the future. One important discovery was the interdependency between perception and language (as a part of culture) and the way this implies a special attention in the music therapy context. Another interesting remark concerns the concept of boundary, and I argue that the Japanese concept of "Ma" is precious in relation to the therapeutic challenge of approaching this concept with an open mind.