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Preprint . 2025
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Preprint . 2025
License: CC BY
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ZENODO
Preprint . 2025
License: CC BY
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The Gift Cycle as Cultural Infrastructure: How Japanese Language, Aesthetics, and Philosophy Enable Creative Value

Authors: Ishibashi, Ryuhei;

The Gift Cycle as Cultural Infrastructure: How Japanese Language, Aesthetics, and Philosophy Enable Creative Value

Abstract

Why does Japan produce so many globally successful creative properties? This paper argues that the answer lies inthe existence of a cultural 'field' (ba, 場) that enables what biophysicist Shimizu Hiroshi (清水博) calls 'yozō'(与贈)̶a form of giving that precedes and enables intentional gift exchange. Crucially, this is not a claim aboutJapanese cultural uniqueness but about universal physical principles. Drawing on Shimizu's field theory, which ismathematically grounded in the Landau-Stuart equation governing phase transitions, I show that yozō dynamicsfollow the same mathematical structure observed in molecular motors, collective animal behavior, and activematter physics. Markets and cities were originally such fields, but utilitarian optimization stripped awayunmeasurable dimensions, potentially decreasing total wealth. The Japanese creative ecosystem has partiallypreserved conditions that satisfy the mathematical requirements for self-organization. This paper derives testablepredictions: any society that engineers equivalent conditions̶regardless of cultural background̶should observesimilar phase transitions in creative output.

Keywords

creative industries, gift theory, ba (field), phase transition, Landau-Stuart equation, yozō, Shimizu Hiroshi, Japanese creative industries, self-organization, Nishida Kitarō

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
Green