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Showing posts from August, 2021

Yūgen : A traditional Japanese aesthetics

https://traditionalkyoto.com/culture/yugen/ https://medium.com/swlh/using-elements-of-japanese-aesthetics-ed0c2e07ec0e “Sky” in Japanese is 空 ( sora ). It’s one of my favorite Japanese words and is also a beautiful Japanese name. Sora was the lead character in the video games,  Kingdom Hearts , for example. But interestingly, the same kanji, when read as 空く ( aku ), means to “become empty.” So the kanji 空 can refer to empty vastness, too. Another absolutely beautiful Japanese word that perfectly captures a scene: 花吹雪 ( hanafubuki ). This is when falling cherry blossom petals fall so fast, it looks like snow. And speaking of cherry blossoms, that’s 桜 ( sakura ) in Japanese. That’s another common name and a beloved word in Japanese culture. There’s a lot of revere for the Japanese cherry blossom trees, and many festivals center around them. 森林浴 ( shinrin-yoku ) means “forest bath.” You may have heard of this one because it’s become a bit trendy. But there’s evidence that “forest bath...