12 Japanese Wisdoms (Are These Words Even Real?)

how igor ticks , wisdom , language

A Facebook infographic crossed my feed: “12 Japanese Wisdoms — Ideas for a more meaningful life.” My first reaction was “are these words even real?” (yes, mostly; see the footnote). My second was that I already have a blog post for most of them. So here they are as raccoons, sorted into what I practice, what I’m reaching for and what’s least for me.

AI-augmented, roughly 80% AI

I love AI, and I use it on posts like this one partly to get better at using it. The percent is a rough guess: after rounds of prompting, rewriting and editing, it's very hard to say which words came from whom.

What I practice

1. Ikigai: a reason to get up

At dawn the raccoon leaps head-first into a trash can glowing gold like a treasure chest, a Croc flying off, while the alarm clock that woke him rings on the cobbles.

Mine: begin with the end in mind, which is why I wrote my eulogy.

2. Kaizen: small steps, every day

The raccoon stands on a staircase of three books, holding up a fourth to add today, climbing toward a cookie jar on top of the cupboard.

Mine: deliberate, disciplined, daily.

3. Shoshin: beginner’s mind

The raccoon in an orange helmet rides a tricycle with training wheels, tongue out in concentration, a green-and-yellow beginner's chevron on the back.

Mine: isn’t that curious?

4. Oubaitori: bloom at your own pace

The raccoon wears horse blinkers while he waters his tiny sprout, refusing to look at the smug owl beside him showing off an enormous sunflower.

Mine: dealer of smiles and wonder.

5. Gaman: endure with dignity

In pouring rain at night the raccoon sits upright and calm on a bench, holding an umbrella blown inside out, a kitten curled up dry beside his tail.

Mine: calm like water.

6. Wabi-sabi: beauty in imperfection

In a pottery corner the raccoon proudly holds a lumpy, lopsided mug he made himself, while a perfect white shop mug sits ignored on the shelf.

Mine: I enjoy amateur everything; it’s just more interesting. Hence the mismatched shoes and crazy shirts.

What I’m reaching for

7. Ichigo ichie: one time, one meeting

The raccoon lies in a daisy meadow pointing in delight at a cloud shaped exactly like a raccoon's face, already drifting apart at the edges.

Mine: be present.

8. Mono no aware: the beauty of passing things

The felt raccoon in rainbow glasses on a bench under falling cherry blossoms at sunset, savoring an ice-cream cone that is melting down his paw.

Mine: life is finite, time is limited.

9. Hara hachi bu: eat until 80% full

At an izakaya counter, eight dumpling spots on the plate are empty; with a single heroic tear the raccoon pushes away the last two.

Mine: no mindless eating.

Least for me

10. Kintsugi: golden repair

The raccoon holds up a cracked trash-can lid, mended with shining gold seams, like a knight's shield.

Mine: learn from mistakes.

11. Shinrin-yoku: forest bathing

Forest bathing, literally: the raccoon soaks in a wooden tub in a mossy forest with a towel on his head and a rubber duck, his shirt hung on a branch, as a deer peeks out.

Mine: no post for this one.

12. Mottainai: don’t waste it

At the kitchen table the raccoon carefully knots a polka-dot cloth around leftovers: a pizza crust, half a banana and some fries.

Mine: honestly, the opposite of what I want.

Are these words real?

Yes, all 12 are genuine Japanese. The infographic glosses drift, though: a real word picks up a self-help meaning on its way to English. The ikigai four-circle Venn diagram isn’t Japanese (its history). Kaizen is an everyday word for “improvement” that a 1986 management book turned into a doctrine. Shinrin-yoku was coined by Japan’s forestry ministry in 1982. In Buddhist usage gaman meant arrogance (我慢, Kotobank), and oubaitori (桜梅桃李) is an obscure idiom whose “stop comparing” meaning is a modern spin. The rest: mono no aware, wabi-sabi (侘び寂び), shoshin, ichigo ichie, mottainai, hara hachi bu, kintsugi. A word can be useful even when the meme about it is wrong. That’s The Words We Don’t Have.