“On” is the concept of having received a great favour, feeling grateful, and knowing that you owe somebody a lot. In Japanese it seems like less of a subjective feeling, and more of a tangible object - a thing that you now possess because somebody helped you greatly. In Japanese, “I am very indebted” isContinue reading "恩 (on) “favour, gratitude, obligation”"
迷悟一如 (mei-go-ichi-nyo) “confusion and enlightenment are one and the same”
Being confused ain’t necessarily so bad 🙂
陰陽 (in-yo) “Yin and Yang”
Yin is dark, cold, receptive, magnetic. Yang is light, hot, giving, active. Both are present in everything. Day is Yang, Night is Yin. But during a Yang day, one will have periods of Yin rest. Yin-Yang is also an important concept in Japanese art. In the calligraphy above, outward brush-strokes are Yang and should beContinue reading "陰陽 (in-yo) “Yin and Yang”"
限 (gen) “limits”
It is precisely the act of pushing against limits, stretching them, bending them, playing with them, which leads to interesting artistic expression. In other words, in order to push boundaries, there must be boundaries existing in the first place. This is especially true of Japanese calligraphy. As an artform it is incredibly restrictive. The boundariesContinue reading "限 (gen) “limits”"
不言実行 (fu-gen-jik-ko) “less speaking, more action”
不 = not 言 = speaking 実 = actually 行 = doing
粋 (iki) “understated elegance”
“Iki” is a Japanese aesthetic ideal. It refers to subtle elegance and sophistication. One of the aspects of iki is caring about the sensibilities of others. What you wear should make others feel comfortable, and wearing stylish clothing is a way of respecting those around you. This doesn’t mean that you can’t wear what youContinue reading "粋 (iki) “understated elegance”"
以心伝心 (i-shin-den-shin) “without any need for words”
The second and fourth character in this famous 4-character idiom are both 心, which means "heart". This idiom refers to heart-to-heart communication; speaking without words.
Secrets of Japanese business: 改善 (kai-zen) “continuous improvement”
Kaizen is a Japanese term meaning "change for the better" or "continuous improvement." It is the Japanese business philosophy of continuously improving operations. Kaizen sees improvement in productivity as a gradual and methodical process. The kaizen concept asserts that there is no perfect end. Everything can be improved upon, and all employees must strive to evolveContinue reading "Secrets of Japanese business: 改善 (kai-zen) “continuous improvement”"
一期一会 (ichi-go-ichi-e) “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”
This 4-character idiom encourages us to reflect that every moment can be a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity, if we make the most of it. To learn more about how to have more ichi-go-ichi-e in your life, check out this article.
Japanese Writing Systems
The Japanese language uses three writing systems: kanji, hiragana, and katakana. Kanji are logograms – each character has a specific meaning. It is used to write "content" words such as nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives. Hiragana and katakana are syllabaries – each character represents a single syllable sound rather than a meaning. Hiragana is used for showing verb inflections, for prepositions, and otherContinue reading "Japanese Writing Systems"
Calligraphy by Vicky 