Japan

Explore 38 quotes by people from Japan

The old pond-
A frog leaps in,
And a splash.

Matsuo Basho

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Topic

Nature scene

Author

Matsuo Basho

Medium

Haiku Poem

Language

Japanese

Time

1686 1680s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Basho, Matsuo. Haiku. c. 1686.

Current Citation

Basho, Matsuo. Basho: The Complete Haiku, translated by Jane Reichhold. Kodansha International, 2013.

The months and days are the travelers of eternity. The years that come and go are also voyagers... I too for years past have been stirred by the sight of a solitary cloud drifting with the wind to ceaseless thoughts of roaming.

Matsuo Basho

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Topic

Wanderlust Eternity

Author

Matsuo Basho

Source

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Genre

Travel writing

Language

Japanese

Time

1694 1690s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Basho, Matsuo. おくのほそ道 [The Narrow Road to the Deep North]. Tokyo, 1702.

Current Citation

Basho, Matsuo. "The Narrow Road to the Deep North." The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches, translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa. Penguin Classics, 1967.

Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maples, singing songs, drinking water and diverting ourselves in just floating, floating; caring not a whit for the poverty staring us in the face, refusing to be disheartened, like a gourd floating along with the river current: this is what we call ukiyo.

Asai Ryoi

Tales of the Floating World

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Topic

Enjoying life

Author

Asai Ryoi

Source

Tales of the Floating World

Language

Japanese

Time

1661 1660s 17th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Asai, Ryoi. 浮世物語 [Tales of the Floating World]. c. 1666, bk. 1, ch. 1.

The enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization. Such being the case, how are we to save the millions of our subjects, or to atone ourselves before the hallowed spirits of our imperial ancestors?... It is according to the dictate of time and fate that we have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unavoidable and suffering what is insufferable.

Emperor Hirohito

More information about this quote

Topic

Nuclear weapons World War II

Speaker

Emperor Hirohito

Medium

Radio broadcast Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

Japanese

Time

1945 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Emperor Hirohito. The Jewel Voice. 15 Aug. 1945, Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan. Broadcast.

Perhaps it is indeed time I began to look at this whole matter of bantering more enthusiastically. After all, when one thinks about it, it is not such a foolish thing to indulge in-particularly if it is the case that in bantering lies the key to human warmth.

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Remains of the Day

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Topic

Jokes Conversation

Author

Kazuo Ishiguro

Source

The Remains of the Day

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Faber & Faber, 1989.

We believe if you have a family you can't eliminate certain members of that family because profits are down.

Akio Morita

Quoted in The Sunday Telegraph

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Topic

Layoffs Business management

Speaker

Akio Morita

Source

The Sunday Telegraph

Medium

Interview

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1988 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Morita, Akio. Interviewed by U.K. Sunday Telegraph. c. 1988.

Memories warm you up from the inside but they also tear you apart.

Haruki Murakami

Kakfa on the Shore

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Topic

Memories Nostalgia The past

Author

Haruki Murakami

Source

Kakfa on the Shore

Medium

Novel

Language

Japanese

Time

2002 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Murakami, Haruki. 海辺のカフカ [Kafka on the Shore]. Shinchosha, 2002.

The flowers withered,
Their color faded away,
While meaninglessly
I spent my days in the world
And the long rains were falling.

Ono no Komachi

More information about this quote

Topic

Wasting time Spending time Passage of time

Author

Ono no Komachi

Source

Kokin Wakashu

Medium

Poem

Language

Japanese

Time

914 910s 10th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Ono no Komachi. Kokinshu [Kokin Wakashu]. c. 914.

Current Citation

Ono no Komachi. "Kokinshu." Anthology of Japanese Literature, edited by Donald Keene. Vol. 1, Grove Press, 1994.

The rest of my life stretches out as an emptiness before me.

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Remains of the Day

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Topic

The future

Speaker

Miss Kenton

Author

Kazuo Ishiguro

Source

The Remains of the Day

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Faber & Faber, 1989.

Anyone who falls in love is searching for the missing pieces of themselves.

Haruki Murakami

Kafka on the Shore

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Topic

Falling in love

Speaker

Oshima

Author

Haruki Murakami

Source

Kafka on the Shore

Medium

Novel

Language

Japanese

Time

2002 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Murakami, Haruki. 海辺のカフカ [Kafka on the Shore]. Shinchosha, 2002.

If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.

Haruki Murakami

Norwegian Wood

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Topic

Thinking for oneself Thinking outside the box Books

Speaker

Nagasawa

Author

Haruki Murakami

Source

Norwegian Wood

Medium

Novel

Language

Japanese

Time

1987 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Murakami, Haruki. ノルウェイの森 [Norwegian Wood]. Kodansha, 1987.

To be an artist means never to avert one's eyes.

Akira Kurosawa

Quoted in The New York Times

Read this quote at the New York Times

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Topic

Artists Art

Speaker

Akira Kurosawa

Source

The New York Times

Medium

Obituary Newspaper

Language

Japanese

Time

20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lyman, Rick. "Akira Kurosawa, Film Director, Is Dead at 88." New York Times, 7 Sept. 1998, Section A, Page 1, https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/07/movies/akira-kurosawa-film-director-is-dead-at-88.html.

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

Dogen

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Topic

Interconnectedness of all things The moon The sky

Author

Dogen

Source

Genjo Koan Shōbōgenzō

Statement Type

Zen koan

Language

Japanese

Time

1253 1250s 13th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Dogen. "Genjo Koan [Actualizing the Fundamental Point]." Shobogenzo, c. 1253.

The evening's the best part of the day. You've done your day's work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it.

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Remains of the Day

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Topic

Evening Work

Author

Kazuo Ishiguro

Source

The Remains of the Day

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Faber & Faber, 1989.

If you are under the impression you have already perfected yourself, you will never rise to the heights you are no doubt capable of.

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Remains of the Day

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Topic

Self-improvement Personal development

Speaker

Mr. Stevens

Author

Kazuo Ishiguro

Source

The Remains of the Day

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Faber & Faber, 1989.

There is nothing in the whole world so painful as feeling that one is not liked. It always seems to me that people who hate me must be suffering from some strange form of lunacy.

Sei Shonagon

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Topic

Wanting to be liked Man as social animal

Author

Sei Shonagon

Language

Japanese

Time

1002 1000s 11th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Sei Shonagon. 枕草子 [The Pillow Book]. c. 1002.

Current Citation

Sei Shonagon. The Pillow Book, translated by Meredith McKinney. Penguin Classics, 2007.

The war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage.

Emperor Hirohito

Part of Emperor Hirohito's broadcast announcing Japan's surrender after the atom bomb had destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

More information about this quote

Topic

The atom bomb Nuclear weapons World War II

Speaker

Emperor Hirohito

Medium

Speech

Statement Type

Understatement

Language

Japanese

Time

1945 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Emperor Hirohito. The Jewel Voice. 15 Aug. 1945, Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan. Broadcast.

What can we ever gain in forever looking back and blaming ourselves if our lives have not turned out quite as we might have wished? The hard reality is, surely, that for the likes of you and I, there is little choice other than to leave our fate, ultimately, in the hands of those great gentlemen at the hub of this world who employ our services. What is the point in worrying oneself too much about what one could or could not have done to control the course one’s life took? Surely it is enough that the likes of you and I at least try to make our small contribution count for something true and worthy. And if some of us are prepared to sacrifice much in life in order to pursue such aspirations, surely that is in itself, whatever the outcome, cause for pride and contentment.

Kazuo Ishiguro

The Remains of the Day

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Topic

Dwelling on the past Regrets The past

Author

Kazuo Ishiguro

Source

The Remains of the Day

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Faber & Faber, 1989.

No matter how honestly you open up to someone, there are still some things you can’t reveal.

Haruki Murakami

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

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Topic

Vulnerability Intimacy Connecting with others

Author

Haruki Murakami

Source

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Medium

Novel

Language

Japanese

Time

2013 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Murakami, Haruki. 色彩を持たない多崎つくると、彼の巡礼の年 [Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage]. Bungeishunju, 2013.

What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.

Shunryu Suzuki

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Topic

The self Ego Consciousness

Author

Shunryu Suzuki

Source

Zen Mind, Beginnner's Mind

Genre

Philosophical literature Religious literature

Language

English

Time

1970 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Suzuki, Shunryu. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Weatherhill, 1970. Originally a talk given at his Zen center in c. 1969, Los Altos, CA, USA.