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  2. Yojijukugo - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yojijukugo

    Yojijukugo in the broad sense refers to Japanese compound words consisting of four kanji characters, which may contain an idiomatic meaning or simply be a compound noun. [3] However, in the narrow or strict sense, the term refers only to four- kanji compounds that have a particular (idiomatic) meaning, which cannot be inferred from the meanings ...

  3. Japanese proverbs - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_proverbs

    Japanese commonly use proverbs, often citing just the first part of common phrases for brevity. For example, one might say i no naka no kawazu (井の中の蛙, 'a frog in a well') to refer to the proverb i no naka no kawazu, taikai o shirazu (井の中の蛙、大海を知らず, 'a frog in a well cannot conceive of the ocean').

  4. Mono no aware - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_no_aware

    Japanese woodblock print showcasing transience, precarious beauty, and the passage of time, thus "mirroring" mono no aware [1] Mono no aware (物の哀れ), [a] lit. ' the pathos of things ', and also translated as ' an empathy toward things ', or ' a sensitivity to ephemera ', is a Japanese idiom for the awareness of impermanence (無常, mujō), or transience of things, and both a transient ...

  5. Wabi-sabi - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi

    Since Mahayana philosophy predicates that genuine understanding is reached through experience rather than words, wabi-sabi may best be appreciated non-verbally. Although the wabi and sabi concepts are religious in origin, actual usage of the words in Japanese is often quite casual, in keeping with the syncretic nature of Japanese belief.

  6. Miyabi - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyabi

    In modern Japanese, the word is usually translated as "elegance," "refinement," or "courtliness" and sometimes to a "sweet loved one". The ideal posed by the word demanded the elimination of anything that was absurd or vulgar and the "polishing of manners, diction, and feelings to eliminate all roughness and crudity so as to achieve the highest ...

  7. Kakekotoba - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakekotoba

    A kakekotoba (掛詞) or pivot word is a rhetorical device used in the Japanese poetic form waka.This trope uses the phonetic reading of a grouping of kanji (Chinese characters) to suggest several interpretations: first on the literal level (e.g. 松, matsu, meaning "pine tree"), then on subsidiary homophonic levels (e.g. 待つ, matsu, meaning "to wait").

  8. Japanese wordplay - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_wordplay

    Japanese wordplay relies on the nuances of the Japanese language and Japanese script for humorous effect, functioning somewhat like a cross between a pun and a spoonerism. Double entendres have a rich history in Japanese entertainment (such as in kakekotoba ) [ 1 ] due to the language's large number of homographs (different meanings for a given ...

  9. Shikata ga nai - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikata_ga_nai

    The Japanese characters explain it to the westerner who comes to see its wisdom. The phrase is also introduced or explained by Japanese or Japanese-American characters in books such as David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars. In the book The Hostile Beaches by Gordon D. Shirreffs, the character Lieutenant Carney says the phrase. When asked what ...