Mono No Aware Bags

Description: Featuring the inspirational Japanese phrase Mono No Aware, translated as “an empathy toward things” or “a sensitivity to ephemera,” written in red horizontal kanji characters. It's an inspiring gift idea for fans of Asian writing/calligraphy and culture, students and teachers of Buddhism, zen, philosophy and Eastern thought, and those who could use a comforting reminder that we can be moved emotionally by objects, that the reality of life is that things are transient, to appreciate the impermanence of all things.

Description: “Mono no aware” is a Japanese idiom from the Heian period. It is an awareness of the impermanence of things, a reality of all things in this world. My inspiration for this work is from a story I read about the Samurai Minamoto Yoshitsune. The Koi in this design were from a long stalled work in progress, so now the impermanence of one design is born into another.

Description: This is one of the most famous Japanese words, and describes the particular sadness or sensitivity regarding the passage of time and the transience of life. To experience this sadness is to be affected by the fleeting nature of specific things (love, experiences, sandwiches), and become wistful or reflective about the fact that everything must end.

Description: For anyone who loves Japan and Japanese art and culture.

Description: The discreetly exultant and bittersweet feeling of witnessing the dazzling circus of life, knowing none of it can last.

Description: Japanese term for the aching awareness of impermanence.

Description: Family Bonds and Distance in Tokyo Story