Being I have described Japanese cunture on the point of dou. The core of dou, I think, is oneness with target. Dou-learning is the same. Oneness is the most important. We learn something not as the object, but as ourselves. That is being rather than learning. Perhaps it is the core of Japanese traditional sense. Japanese language has many words of being, English has many words of doing. We, Japanese are careful of being. Transcribe My son, Hasumi wrote the last article about transcribing. It is the core of dou-learning. Because the action is the training of being oneness. But it is not easy, because it is very important. He […]

Oneness is not fixed We tend to think everything is fixed forever. For example, we hope to be young forever. Of course it is impossible. We think what to be now will be the same in future. No, everything is changing constantly.   aesthetics of Japan Japanese have thought changing is beautiful. There are cherry blossom in other countries. Why is cherry blossom in Japan so special? Cherry blossom will fall soon. It is very fleeting. It is changing in too short time. Because cherry blossom is beautiful, the end of it is more beautiful. Japanese have loved cherry blossom very much. Wabi, Sabi The keywords of Japanese culture are […]

Oneness is not one. Perhaps you think “oneness” is one. We, Japanese don’t use the term “oneness”. But I cannot find the proper term for “oneness”. So I use the word “oneness”. Japanese don’t think the world is oneness. The world is diversity. Many is one. Diversity is working organically. Everything works for others. Everything don’t destry the diversity. Everything don’t know the system of diversity. But naturally everything goes well. That is nature. That is magical. We think of the mysterious system. It has many elements. But the system is one. We cannot see the system. We can feel the system. holy system We think the system is holy. […]

Japanese spirit I wrote some articles about Japanese spiritual culture. We think we and something or somebody are oneness. Perhaps you think you are different from something or somebody. We think so. But at the same time, we think oneness.   About learning We think learning is oneness with something or somebody or knowledge. Because we are the target by oneness. We can acquire the target. Recently young Japanese people don’t know Japanese spirit. I regret that. “Dou” is the traditional Japanese culture. So, I named my family’s style of learning “dou-learning”.

Japanese Horror Japanese horror stories are different from stories of other countries. Many of Japanese horror stories are based on onryo meaning “vengeful spirit” or “vengeful ghost”. A person who is killed by other person’s selfish reason may become onryo after death. They may revenge. They may not be able to forgive the enemy. The enemy is living with fear, will have some troubles or accidents, or will be died. Anyway the enemy cannot be out of sufferings physically and mentally. Onryo have grudge. Onryo is like a ghost. A living person with strong grudge makes his own soul go to his target of grudge, and give sufferings for revenge. […]

Thank for the car 20 years ago, my car had trouble and stopped. When my car was brought to a car service shop, I said “My car is old, the trouble is reasonable”. The master of the shop said “You are wrong! You should thank for your car! Your have driven safely for your car.” That is common in Japanese. We think everything has the soul. My car has the soul, too. My car wants to bring me safely. It’s my car’s will. So, I thank for it.   Mottainai Wangari Muta Maathai was a Kenyan environmental political activist and Nobel laureate. When she came to Japan, she knew the […]

Everything is changing Japanese think humans are part of nature. Then we are nature. Humans are not out of nature. There is an important feature of nature for Japanese. We think nature is always changing.   4 phases Humans have 4 phases. We are born, grow up and grow old, get weak, die. Everything including creatures has 4 phases. It comes into being, being, weathers, collapses. This thought of 4 phases tells that everything is changing.   sense of Japanese culture Japanese culture has the feature of changing. Nothing is stable. Nobody is stable. Humans are the same as nature. We should not be attached to anything. We should go […]

Nature in Japan Westerners think humans and nature are different. Japanese think humans are part of nature. We don’t want to conquer nature. Of course, we destroy and develop nature. But we pray for nature before destroying nature. Humans are sacred, then nature is sacred as well as humans. Maybe, nature is more sacred than humans, because we cannot live without nature. Japanese religion In Japan, Buddhism is the most popular religion. But many Japanese don’t think we are Buddhist. Japanese sense of religion is generous. In Japan, Buddhism and Shinto have melted in one for more than 1500 years. Japanese Buddhism is different from other countries’ Buddhism. Perhaps for […]

Nature tells Japanese people often say “we hear the voice of nature”. That sounds strange. Nature doesn’t have the mouth. Nature isn’t a living creature. Can nature say? But we think it is no wonder. We can hear the voice of nature. Everything tells We hear the voice of wind, streams, rains, clouds, mountains, stones, trees, or everything. That seems animism. But it is not animism of the common term. We are one with nature. So, we hear the voice. The voice doesn’t have any sounds. Understanding by heart When we say “we hear the voice of nature”, we hear it by our ears. We hear the voice by heart. […]

Between two “Two are melting in one” is the core of dou. That is common in Japanese. Japanese always care about relationships between somebody or something and us. Japanese language has highly complicated honorific words. Perhaps we think of relationships the most.   Sensibility Japanese language has very rich words about emotion or mind or spirit. The feature of a language is based on its cultural background. We have dou, and we use Japanese. We are so sensitive.   The Chrysanthemum and the Sword “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” is the book written by Ruth Benedict. She said Japanese have shame cultures. It is partly true. “Shame” comes from the […]