thumb|Sen no Rikyū's [[chashitsu]]

is a Japanese four-character idiom (yojijukugo) that describes a cultural concept of treasuring the unrepeatable nature of a moment. The term has been roughly translated as "for this time only", and "once in a lifetime". The term reminds people to cherish any gathering that they may take part in, citing the fact that any moment in life cannot be repeated; even when the same group of people get together in the same place again, a particular gathering will never be replicated, and thus each moment is always a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Similarly, in noh theater, performances are only rehearsed together once, a few days before the show, rather than the many times that are typical in the West, this corresponding to the transience of a given show.

  • Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache's focus was on creating, during each concert, the optimal conditions for what he called a "transcendent experience". Aspects of Zen Buddhism, such as ichi-go ichi-e, were strongly influential on him.
  • The 1994 movie Forrest Gump was released in Japan with this term in the subtitle as , reflecting the events that happen in the movie.
  • It is also referenced in the title of the Kishi Bashi album 151a, which read in Japanese is pronounced "ichi-go-ichi ē".
  • Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the term to describe meetings between India and Japan during his state visit to the country on 11 November 2016. Interestingly enough, this Japanese expression, which stems from Zen Buddhism, is possibly a Punjabi language expression "ikkoi ikki" (literally: one and only) and also related to Hindi expression "ek hi ek". Since these expressions are of ancient form in these languages, it is possible that it spread to Tibet, China and Japan through travels of Indian saints to Tibet, e.g. Guru Nanak (a native Punjabi language speaker) in early 16th century. Note, the first appearance of this expression in Japan is in 16th century.
  • Ichigo Ichie is a Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant in Cork, Ireland.
  • The name of Ichigo Inc., a Japanese real estate and renewable energy company, comes from Ichi-go ichi-e.
  • In her book, "The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters", Priya Parker recounts her experience with a Japanese tea ceremony master who taught her the phrase. She reflects on how it underscores the importance of having an intentional purpose behind gatherings.
  • The girl group @onefive chose the name not only for the age of the members when the group was founded (fifteen) but also because 15 can be read ichi-go in Japanese, a deliberate reference to the concept of ichi-go ichi-e.

See also

  • YOLO

References

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