This article asserts that Buddhist aesthetics can be seen in Ozu films and then proceeds to compare those films to Kore’eda’s film Maborosi.  The two Buddhist ideas that the author sees expressed in Ozu films are mu (nothingness) and mono no aware (the mysteriousness of things).  Though Ozu was likely not trying to instill Buddhist meaning into his films, he was certainly aware of these concepts.  Ozu even had mu written on his tombstone, implying that he was particularly aligned with this concept.

This article places Ozu’s films in the cultural context of Japanese Zen Buddhism.  The concept of mu is that saying less is saying more.  Ozu’s minimalist plots and still-life shots certainly embody this, as does his tendency to de-emphasize the major events of the story and rather focus on the time and space surrounding them.  Mono no aware is also observable in Ozu’s films.  The way that Ozu’s editing and camera angles often stray from the action and do not always focus on what is most interesting makes the audience slightly perplexed and wondering about the meaning of different events or objects.  Ozu often focuses the camera on a single object and may switch between several before arriving at a shot significant to the plot.  Focusing on different objects leads the audience to wonder at their significance.  This wonder awakens a perspective of “mysteriousness” regarding everyday events and objects that is mono no aware.  Ozu’s tendency of circular stories and repetition is also in line with Zen Buddhism, as circular time is one of its key ideas.

LaFleur, William R. Suicide off the Edge of Explicability: Awe in Ozu and Kore'eda. Film History, Vol. 14, No. 2, Film and Religion (2002), pp. 158-165