Yin is dark, cold, receptive, magnetic. Yang is light, hot, giving, active. Yin and Yang are relative. The element of water is usually considered very Yin, but fast-moving water is Yang compared to still water. Both are present in everything. Rather than being opposites, they are two sides of the same coin. A cup isContinueContinue reading “陰陽 (in-yō) “yin-yang””
Category Archives: Japanese concepts
喫茶去 (kissako) “Please have a cup of tea”
喫 = drink 茶 = tea 去 = leave “Drink tea and leave”? Not exactly. The intention of this 3-character idiom isn’t to tell someone to go away after they’ve drunk some tea, but rather to welcome all guests to have a cup of tea before they leave. This idiom comes from a Chinese ZenContinueContinue reading “喫茶去 (kissako) “Please have a cup of tea””
守破離 (shu-ha-ri) “Follow the rule, break the rule, be the rule!”
守破離 “Shu-ha-ri” describes the 3-stage process of learning a skill or discipline. This 3-character idiom was originally a martial arts concept, but can apply to pretty much any discipline. The 3 stages are as follows: Stage 1: 守 = follow This is the beginning stage, when the student is learning the techniques. This stage isContinueContinue reading “守破離 (shu-ha-ri) “Follow the rule, break the rule, be the rule!””
生き甲斐 (iki-gai) “reason for living”
Now in the Oxford English Dictionary, “Ikigai” is defined as “a motivating force; something or someone that gives a person a sense of purpose or a reason for living” Whilst this concept has existed in Japanese culture for a long time, it was popularised by a Japanese psychiatrist Mieko Kamiya in the 1960s. More recently it hasContinueContinue reading “生き甲斐 (iki-gai) “reason for living””
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 youContinueContinue reading “粋 (iki) “understated elegance””
無常 (mujō) “impermanence”
“Western aesthetics is sometimes familiar with simplicity, asymmetry and suggestion, but the idea that beauty lies in its own vanishing is an idea much less common. Perishability remains, however, what [Donald] Keene has called the ‘the most distinctively Japanese aesthetic ideal’. It is certainly among the earliest, being based on the Buddhist concept of “mujō”…ContinueContinue reading “無常 (mujō) “impermanence””
心 (kokoro) “heart/mind”
Unlike in English, where “heart” and “mind” are typically separated (emotion vs. logic), 心 kokoro refers to both feelings and thoughts, and even one’s will or intent. It combines thoughts, feelings, intentions and even morality in a way that the English word “heart” does not, which is probably why the translators of Natsume Soseki’s famous novel Kokoro chose to leaveContinueContinue reading “心 (kokoro) “heart/mind””
言霊 (koto-dama) “word-spirit”
Koto-dama 言霊 is a traditional belief that mystical powers dwell in words and names. Just like martial arts practitioners giving out a shout when they make a strike (“ki-ai!” – literally “meeting of spirit”) it is believed that sounds can affect our body, mind and soul.
陰陽 (in-yō) “yin-yang”
Yin is dark, cold, receptive, magnetic. Yang is light, hot, giving, active. Yin and Yang are relative. The element of water is usually considered very Yin, but fast-moving water is Yang compared to still water. Both are present in everything. Rather than being opposites, they are two sides of the same coin. A cup isContinueContinue reading “陰陽 (in-yō) “yin-yang””
積読 / 積ん読 tsundoku “The act of buying books and letting them pile up unread” 📚
Another case of “the Japanese language has a word for that”! The 2 kanji in this useful word are: 積 This comes from the word 積んでおく, meaning “to let something pile up”. 読 Which comes from the noun 読書 (dokusho), meaning “reading”. Japanese learners will recognise this kanji from 読む (yomu) “to read”.
Calligraphy by Vicky 