Japanese

Explore 30 quotes originally in Japanese

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.

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.

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.

The United States is the last country in the world that Japan should fight.

Letters from Iwo Jima

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Topic

World War II

Speaker

General Kuribayashi

Actor

Ken Watanabe

Source

Letters from Iwo Jima

Medium

Film

Genre

War (film) War

Language

Japanese

Time

2006 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Letters from Iwo Jima. Directed by Clint Eastwood, DreamWorks Pictures/Malpaso Productions/Amblin Entertainment/Warner Bros., 2006.

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.

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.

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.

One loses joy and happiness in the attempt to possess them.

Masanobu Fukuoka

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Topic

Seeking happiness Seeking Happiness Letting go

Author

Masanobu Fukuoka

Source

The One-Straw Revolution

Statement Type

Paradox Zen koan

Language

Japanese

Time

1975 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Fukuoka, Masanobu. 自然農法 わら一本の革命 [One-Straw Revolution]. Hakujusha, 1975.

If you hire only those people whom you understand, the company will never get better people than you are.

Soichiro Honda

More information about this quote

Topic

Employees Management Business

Speaker

Soichiro Honda

Source

Honda Motor

Genre

Biography

Language

Japanese

Time

1982 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Honda, Soichiro. Quoted in Honda Motor: The Men, the Management, the Machines by Tetsuo Sakiya. Kodansha, 1985.

Why do people have to be this lonely? What's the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?

Haruki Murakami

Sputnik Sweetheart

More information about this quote

Topic

Loneliness Isolation The human condition

Author

Haruki Murakami

Source

Sputnik Sweetheart

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Question

Language

Japanese

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Murakami, Haruki. スプートニクの恋人 [Sputnik Sweetheart]. Kodansha, 1999.

Money is not for saving.

Yayoi Kusama

More information about this quote

Topic

Saving money Personal finances Money

Speaker

Yayoi Kusama

Source

Yayoi Kusama

Medium

Interview

Language

Japanese

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kusama, Yayoi. Interviewed by Damien Hirst. Published in the catalogue to accompany Now, an exhibition of Kusama’s work. Robert Miller Gallery, New York City, NY, USA.

If you remember me, then I don't care if everyone else forgets.

Haruki Murakami

Kafka on the Shore

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Topic

Memory

Speaker

Miss Saeki

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.

I am determined to serve and give my life for my country.

Letters from Iwo Jima

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More information about this quote

Topic

War

Speaker

General Kuribayashi

Actor

Ken Watanabe

Source

Letters from Iwo Jima

Medium

Film

Genre

War (film) War

Language

Japanese

Time

2006 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Letters from Iwo Jima. Directed by Clint Eastwood, DreamWorks Pictures/Malpaso Productions/Amblin Entertainment/Warner Bros., 2006.