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In Iki no kōzō, Kuki made use of new theoretical frameworks in the continental tradition to analyze iki. Kuki concluded that iki could only be understood through lived experience. In other words, iki is not a sum of conceptual analyses of its objective expressions; its full range of signification cannot be arrived at by identifying some generic concepts that pervade these manifestations. Kuki argued that iki should be defined in terms of a mode of being specific to the Japanese ethnicity. Chapter 1 sets out how to find an answer to how to find the structure of iki and more generally to arrive at the structure of a cultural phenomenon. Kuki shows that the mode of existence of the Japanese people precipitates in a word in Japanese when it is essential for the people. A mode of existence, in this case the iki sensibility, exists as a meaning only if the sensibility is central to the being of the people. Kuki goes on to argue that, although similar sensibilities to iki may exist in non-Japanese cultures, there is none equivalent. Here he considers words like chic and esprit in French, Sehnsucht 'longing' in German. Had Kuki lived in the 21st century in the United States, he might have entertained cool or awesome.
Kuki believes further that an aesthetic sensibility like iki can be broken down into constituent meaning elements (e.g., iki is a combination of "coquetry," "detachment," and "cool" that embodies fashionable and attractive elements) but warns the reader of the danger that finding these constituent elements only captures the "dry" meaning and still does not capture the smell and taste of the meaning of these words, which we might call the "wet" meaning. The way Kuki advocates to learn the meaning of iki is to experience it directly. That is, one must touch it, feel it, taste it, learn by doing, and above all, live it, thus making the "wet" connections needed. The "wet" stuff will fill the void left by the dry constituent elements that were aggregated mechanically, much like cement filling in the cracks in a rock pavement. In other words, he concludes that the approach to understanding the meaning of iki ought not to be universalist/eidetic/a listing out of attributes but interpretive/hermeneutic through actual experience.
In Chapter 2, Kuki identifies the intrinsic constituent elements to be bitai (coquetry), ikiji (pluck, tension), and akirame (resignation to fate). Bitai is the material cause (Aristotelian sense; the material out of which something is made), ikiji and akirame are the formal causes (the way specific meanings are formed).
Bitai (coquetry) is displayed toward the opposite sex, a sort of romantic tension that exists between Self and Other which suggests the possibility of a romantic union. There is no tension if the union is achieved. Teasing and flirting is iki but consummating a union with the mate is not. Since this relationship involves two parties, Kuki thinks iki has, at its core, a dualistic opposition.
Ikiji (pluck, spirited tension) refers to the moral ideal held dear to the heart by the townsmen of Edo, a spirited and determined courage, a sensibility embodied in such words as inase (stylish), otokodate (manly), isami (valiant and dashing), denpō (showoff bravado). Ikiji is a basic ingredient in bushidō (way of the samurai).
Akirame (resignation to one's destiny) comes from Buddhistic detachment from reality and from a natural realization of one's destiny. In love affairs this refers to accepting a failing relationship as it is.
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