Ma: The Japanese Word for the Space Between Things
The Japanese character for ma is a gate with the sun inside it. What the space between things means in Japan, from…
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japanese culture
Taian 2027: Japan’s Lucky Wedding Days, and the Case for the Unlucky Ones
The full Taian 2027 calendar of lucky wedding days in Japan, checked day by day: which dates fill first, why only fifteen…
Yūgen: The Japanese Word for the Feeling Beneath the Feeling
The Japanese call it yūgen. A beauty too deep for words. The ache of noticing how beautiful something is while it is…
Ukiyo: The Floating World
What Is Ukiyo? In Japan’s Edo period, ukiyo meant “the floating world”. A poetic description of life’s fleeting pleasures. Think kabuki theatres, geisha districts,…
Ikigai: What Japan Really Means by a Reason for Being
The famous ikigai diagram isn't Japanese. What the word really means, what Japan's own surveys say gives people ikigai, and why a…