Japanese Quotes

“You all have your own distinct personal backgrounds. Of course some of you come from rich families, some from poor families. But circumstances beyond your control like that shouldn’t determine who you are. You must all realize what you’re worth on your own.”
― Koushun Takami, Battle Royale

“From the moment of my birth, I lived with pain at the center of my life. My only purpose in life was to find a way to coexist with intense pain.”
― Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

“The blue of the sky is one of the most special colors in the world, because the color is deep but see-through both at the same time.”
― Cynthia Kadohata, Kira-Kira

“If love goes too far, it turns into cruelty.”
― Haruo Shirane, Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900

“Ichigo Ichie
--Nishikado Soujiroh”
― Yoko Kamio, Boys Over Flowers: Hana Yori Dango, Vol. 1

“And, well, mine are kind of on the heavy side anyway. The first day or two, I don't want to do ANYTHING. Make sure you keep away from me then.'
I'd like to, but how can I tell?' I asked.
O.K., I'll wear a hat for a couple of days after my period starts. A red one. That should work,' she said with a laugh. 'If you see me on the street and I'm wearing a red hat, don't talk to me, just run away.”
― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

“The woman was silent, her eyes on the floor. Shimamura had come to a point where he knew he was only parading his masculine shamelessness, and yet it seemed likely enough that the woman was familiar with the failing and need not be shocked by it. He looked at her. Perhaps it was the rich lashes of the downcast eyes that made her face seem warm and sensuous. She shook her head very slightly, and again a faint blush spread over her face.”
― Yasunari Kawabata, Snow Country

“And then there was her face: her white skin, her brown eyes, and her expression, so soft and beautiful; she looked as though she were constantly getting ready to ask a question. Even an immaculately crafted doll could not have been as lovely.”
― Natsuo Kirino, Grotesque

“The hanging gate, of something like trelliswork, was propped on a pole, and he could see that the house was tiny and flimsy. He felt a little sorry for the occupants of such a place--and then asked himself who in this world had a temporary shelter.

[Anonymous, Kokinshuu 987:
Where in all this world shall I call home?
A temporary shelter is my home.]

A hut, a jeweled pavilion, they were the same. A pleasantly green vine was climbing a board wall. The white flowers, he said to himself, had a rather self-satisfied look about them.
'I needs must ask the lady far yonder," he said, as if to himself.

[Anonymous, Kokinshuu 1007:
I needs must ask the lady far yonder
What flower it is off there that blooms so white.]

An attendant came up, bowing deeply. "The white flowers far off yonder are known as 'evening faces," he said. "A very human sort of name--and what a shabby place they have picked to bloom in."
It was as the man said. The neighborhood was a poor one, chiefly of small houses. Some were leaning precariously, and there were "evening faces" at the sagging eaves.
A hapless sort of flower. Pick one off for me, will you?"
The man went inside the raised gate and broke off a flower. A pretty little girl in long, unlined yellow trousers of raw silk came out through a sliding door that seemed too good for the surroundings. Beckoning to the man, she handed him a heavily scented white fan.
Put it on this. It isn't much of a fan, but then it isn't much of a flower either.”
― Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji

“I have been brought up in a world dominated by honor. I have known neither crime, poverty, nor betrayal, and here I taste hatred for the first time: it is sublime, like a thirst for justice and revenge."
-the girl who played go”
― Shan Sa, The Girl Who Played Go

“These days, even plain tea has become a treat, hasn't it?”
― Shizuko Go, Requiem

“When I went on anyway, my body began to grow cold, and I thought I
was dead. Face pale, my dead self sat down on a bench and began to turn
toward my real self, who was watching this hallucination on the screen of the
night. My dead self came nearer, just as if it might want to shake hands with my
real self. That's when I panicked and tried to run. But my dead self pursued me
and finally caught me, entered me and controlled me. I'd felt then just the way I
felt now. I felt as if a hole had opened in my head from which consciousness
and memory leaked out and in their place the rash crowded in, and a cold like
spoiled roast chicken. But that time before, shaking and clinging to the damp
bench, I'd told myself, Hey, take a good look, isn't the world still under your
feet? I'm on this ground, and on this same ground are trees and grass and ants
carrying sand to their nests, little girls chasing rolling balls, and puppies running.”
― Ryū Murakami, Almost Transparent Blue

“Shinju in Japanese literally means "inside the heart." More fully, it implies that if the heart were cut open, there would be found only devotion to one's lover; thus, "revealing-the-heart death.”
― Jack Seward, Hara-Kiri: Japanese Ritual Suicide

“...O-suzu left whatever work she was doing at her sewing machine and dragged Takeo back to O-yoshi and her son.
How dare you behave so selfishly! Now tell O-yoshi-san that you are sorry. Get down on the mats and make a proper bow!”
― Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Mandarins: Stories

“His smiling face revealed a love too strong to be kept inside, but the feelings obviously rising inside him kept him from looking directly at Kikunojou. He gazed instead at Kikunojou's clear reflection on the water.”
― Haruo Shirane, Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900 (Abridged Edition) (Translations from the Asian Classics

“Japanese American, she corrected me. Not Japanese. And Vietnamese American, not Vietnamese. You must claim America, she said. America will not give itself to you. If you do not claim America, if America is not in your heart, America will throw you into a concentration camp or a reservation or a plantation.”
― Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer

“In the middle distance, sails were gliding like butterflies, and farther away, ships dotted the mouth of the bay between Awa and Sagami as if brushed in ink in a single flowing stroke.”
― Haruo Shirane, Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900

“But,” began the Zainichi North Korean man, “even if we know all that stuff, isn’t it pointless if the people discriminating against you don’t?”

“What matters is that we know,” I said. “Those ignorant haters who discriminate based on nationality and ethnicity are pathetic. We need to educate ourselves and make ourselves stronger and forgive them. Not that I’m anywhere near that yet.”
― Kazuki Kaneshiro, Go

“Here's my impression of you when we met the other day: you HAVE changed completely--but I wish you hadn't. I think I understand why you're on your best behavior at school, and I suppose I ought to praise you for showing such an improvement, but please don't force yourself to change too much. Please, at least when you're with me, be the same bright Naomi who chats about everything under the sun. You and I have grown up in different environments, we have different lives, and we also think differently--yet in spite of all these differences I'm sure we can be the best of friends. One day we may come to share the same ideas, but I'd like to believe that it's a natural growing together.”
― Shizuko Go, Requiem

“Well, I thought, America's not stingy with its bombs.”
― Shizuko Go, Requiem

“From outside the shelter came children's voices. The shrill squeals brought the excitement of their unseen game into the opaque quiet of Setsuko's world and made her smile. "No war can go on forever. And human beings are the toughest creatures on earth, you know. There's no sense in being in a hurry to die. You MUST LIVE, whatever happens." Shoichi Wakui had squeezed her hand and told her this with an almost violent urgency, though his grasp was weak and his voice halting. Were those the Sugiwaras' children she could hear? The barber had had the presence of mind to rescue his kit when he fled through the flames of his burning shop, and now he was doing a brisk trade, seating his customers on cushions atop piled stones from the foundations. To house his family he'd put a lean-to against the railway embankment, barely enough to keep out the weather, but at least the children were no longer starving. Even in defeat the locally garrisoned soldiers all had some supplies of food, and while waiting to board trains for their hometowns from Yokohama Station they'd sit on the stone seat of the Sugawara Barbershop and have a good shave, leaving the children something to eat as payment.
Setsuko no longer felt the rage that had overwhelmed her at the disbanding ceremony. If they had fought on home ground, one hundred million Japanese sworn to die before they would surrender, those children would have had to die too. Those young lives and spirits would have been extinguished in terror and pain and they wouldn't even have understood why. They have a right to go on living, and the strength to do it, Setsuko thought. For their sakes, if no one else's, I should rejoice that the war ended before an invasion reached the home front. Shoichi Wakui's words came back clearly: "Even when a war is lost, people's lives still go on." And Naomis, in the gray notebook: "Every war comes to an end, and when peace is restored Paris rises like a phoenix." But what about those who'd already died? It was agony to think of those who would not rise: the dead would be left where they fell at the ends of the earth while the living would come home with their knapsacks of clothing and food. Whether they had gone to the front or stayed at home, the people had staked their lives for country and Emperor, and after they had lost, the country and the Emperor were still there. Then what had it all meant? Adrift and floundering in despair, Setsuko slipped back into a restless sleep.”
― Shizuko Go, Requiem

“Tea followers were among the earliest converts to the Christian faith. Takayama Ukon, a daimyo turned ardent evangelist, was a disciple of Sen no Rikyu, the preeminent tea master of all time. After Christianity had been banned—Takayama was exiled to the Philippines—underground Christians cherished the tea ceremony as the only opportunity to assemble without arousing suspicion on the part of the authorities. It proved to be a fitting substitute for Holy Communion; even in its Zen context the rite symbolized the giving of oneself. For Christians liable to detection and torture because of their outlawed faith, it was a solemn reminder that Christ had willingly given his life for them. Some of the cups were boldly inscribed with a cross. So it is little wonder that some Japanese Christians have envisioned their Lord in the graceful robe of a Zen tea master.”
― F. Calvin Parker, The Japanese Sam Patch: Saga of a Servant

“I was surprised to find authors like Kaizan Nakazato and Sanjugo Naoki in a corner of the bookcase where I've never noticed them before. I dip into a book, and if it's dull I go straight onto the next. I never used to do that--even if I was bored I'd plod on to the end. But, look, if I'm to die at any moment, there's no sense being in the middle of a boring book, is there?”
― Shizuko Go, Requiem

“People peep into boxes at moving stereoscopic prints, imagining they're in other worlds, and the crowd around a glassblower wonders whether icicles have formed in summer. Potted trees revive and suddenly look fresh when a florist sprinkles water on them, while papier-mâché turtles hanging out for sale move in the wind and take on souls.”
― Haruo Shirane

“Think of it as a little rest in the long journey of your life. This is your harbor. And your boat is just dropping anchor here for a little while. And after you're well rested, you can set sail again.”
― Satoshi Yagisawa, Maki Hojyo in ASAKUSA: Maki Hojyo digital photo book

“I did a deep dive into Japanese savory ice cream, flavored with the likes of octopus, cactus, ox tongue, wasabi, chicken wing and crab.”
― Laurie Woolever, Care and Feeding: A Memoir – A Candid, Funny, and Devastating Story of the Food World and a Cultural Reckoning

“Mono no aware (物の哀れ) is a Japanese term for the bittersweet awareness of impermanence—a gentle sadness at life's fleeting beauty. ”
― Motoori Norinaga

“The sardine dish was cooked sweet and salty and went well with the rice. And when you took a bite of the yukari rice when the somewhat fishy taste still remained in your mouth it was totally refreshing. Otoha felt like she could eat white rice and yukari, switching back and forth between them, forever. The okara had completely absorbed the umami from the cooked sardine broth and was flavorful and tasty. The carrots and dried shiitake provided a pleasant accent.”
― Hika Harada, Dinner at the Night Library

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“They say the word jinx is a jinx, but not him! He's my lucky cat. My uncle gave him to me."
"We have lucky cats, too." Niko unzipped her bag and carefully unwrapped a white cat with one paw in the air. "His name is Maneki Neko."
"Niko, Neko! Niko, Neko!" Madison responded in a singsong.
"My name means 'kindness.' His means 'luck,'" Niko explained.
Gwen leaned against the doorjamb with her arms folded. "I think that is a wonderful combination. Kindness and luck."
"We have two lucky cats!" Madison exclaimed.”
― Fern Michaels, Smuggler's Cove