is a Japanese aesthetical ideal of subdued displays of taste and/or wealth, with an emphasis on belying, on first glance, the efforts taken to appear stylish. It is thought to have originated amongst the merchant classes of Edo (modern-day Tokyo) in Edo period Japan, subverting class through an expression of material wealth that formed an aesthetic language specifically aimed at one's peers.
Sometimes misunderstood in the West as the archetypal or stereotypical aesthetics of Japanese culture, is instead a cornerstone of traditional Japanese aesthetic appeal and thought. Both geisha and kimono, amongst other cultural aspects, are thought to have been influenced by and developed through , and remain largely influenced by it to this day.
History
During the Edo period, a number of edicts were passed by the ruling samurai classes restricting expressions of material wealth by those officially lower in the social hierarchy as a way of preserving the status of the upper classes; this included edicts of dress preventing the lower classes from visibly appearing to be above their social class. Though dress edicts had little impact on much of the working classes, who had little access to wealth allowing them to purchase new and expensive silk kimono, the merchant classes – socially impoverished but monetarily powerful – were directly hit by these laws, as changes had, over time, led them to control much of Japan's economy.
This led to the development of as an expression of the now-underground nature of the merchant classes' wealth; to obey the law was too safe, and to blatantly flout it too dangerous, leading to the rise of as both a visual dogwhistle and a neo-hierarchy within a specific societal peer group.
<blockquote>By too flagrant a display of his affluence, a townsman ran the risk of having his wealth confiscated. A merchant's home therefore was likely to have had an unassuming exterior, yet to have been full of treasures. He might have worn a sober, plain wool kimono – with an exquisite silk lining. Opulence was channeled into subtle details.
is the antonym of . , literally "non-", is synonymous to .
In the Kamigata or Kansai area, the ideal of is prevalent. is also represented by the kanji . The sense of is similar to but not identical, reflecting various regional differences.