There is an intrinsic belief among Japanese people that nature is in essence harmonious. The Japanese approach to nature is not confrontational, and importance is placed on an appropriate distancing from nature, which sometimes causes us harm and at other times brings us its blessings. This is the same sense as evident in the distancing that Japanese people set between themselves and others.

While distancing themselves from nature, people form part of the harmony of nature and they sense that unadulterated nature is a wonderful thing in its own right. Accordingly, nature should as far as possible be left to its own devices, an attitude which provokes a dislike of fiddling around with nature.

A kimono is a garment consisting of fabric which has been shaped with the most minimal degree of cutting and sewing, while a furoshiki cloth consists of a single piece of fabric which can be used to wrap objects of any shape whatsoever. The sukiya forms part of a continuum that links the room itself with the garden. The series of garments design by Issey Miyake under the title of Ichimai no nuno were produced merely by cutting “single sheets of cloth” and attaching sleeves.

The Japanese climate, in which each of the four seasons make themselves clearly felt, might be considered to be the background to which this approach to “nature as it is” emerged. The sukiya is not set up in opposition to nature, and the garden is considered to form part of the sukiya. This approach surely comes from the intrinsic awareness that the world was originally harmonious.

(Issey Miyake: One of Japan’s foremost contemporary fashion designers.)

	Japanese houses are made from wood, bamboo, earth and paper. It would seem that an attempt is being made to fuse with nature through the use of materials in their pristine form. Repaired walls are made use of to reflect their natural beauty.
	On the left we see the stencil used to produce a Japanese kimono and on the right is a stencil of the type used in the production of Western clothing. The black sections are discarded, but, in the case of the Japanese kimono, there are almost no sections of discarded cloth. This shows how the kimono is made using fabric in its natural state.
	This is an example of a garment from the Ichimai no nuno series designed by Issey Miyake. It has been produced with almost no additions made to the cloth, merely by cutting the fabric in two places and then adding sleeves to it.