It's not so silly when your culture is situated right on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" as is the case for Japan. In times past, you wanted to make your houses light, so that if there is an earthquake, less stuff falls on you and your family.

Imagine what it would be like if the entire culture was constantly metaphorically whispering to you from the moment of your birth about the temporary nature of life? Sorry, but while you can tell yourself you're doing it, you can't actually do it -- your imagination isn't that good! (Otherwise, there would be far fewer systemic social problems.)

In Japan, there is no distinction between high and low art. (This is absolutely related to the rest of this comment!)