Ma (間) is a Japanese term that could be translated as pause, space, opening or interval. It is not simply a void or the absence of content but it is a conscious space, a breathing that allows the other parts of the work to be valued or even create new meanings. According to Japanese philosophy, this space would be full of energy, and could induce a contemplative state in which it is possible to appreciate the expansion of space and time.[1]​.

The Ma cannot be understood by itself but in relation to its context: the present elements delimit the empty space. In that sense, understanding Ma allows simultaneous awareness of the form and counterform of an artistic motif, for example.[2] Examples of Ma can be found in many arts, from the blank spaces of Japanese paintings to the dramatic pauses of nō theater actors to the silent moments in the films of director Yasujirō Ozu.[3] In music, Ma is the silences or intervals between notes. In dance, the Ma is present in the contours of the dancers stopped in a pose and in the asymmetry of the negative shapes that the contours produce.[1]​.

As part of Japanese aesthetics, Ma is linked to other concepts in composition such as the idea of ​​imbalance or asymmetry and the absence of a center. This type of composition is achieved thanks to the attention to the arrangement and spacing of some objects with respect to others (for example, in a sushi tray), as well as the creation of empty spaces delimited by an asymmetrical arrangement (for example, in a bouquet of flowers arranged according to ikebana). Also important is the relationship that the details have with respect to negative space, and the parts with respect to the whole.[4]​.