Touch, look and listen: the multisensory experience in digital art of Japan

This paper presents and examines several examples of digital interactive art in Japan. It analyses its roots in traditional East Asian philosophy, which grants the senses a prominent role in perceiving the world. By reflecting on traditional beliefs and contemporary art and technology in Japan, the essay reflects on the expansion of this culturally and traditionally inspired spirituality from its original context in the socio-cultural interpretation of the natural world to contemporary digitally mediated environments. The goal of this paper is to make explicit some of the main traditionally transmitted characteristics and historically conditioned approaches to technology and its use, focusing on multisensory experience. The treatment presents several multimodal artworks by Japanese artists, such as Ryota Kuwakubo, Masaki Fujihata and Kumiko Kushiyama