thumb|Japanese woodblock print showcasing transience, precarious beauty, and the passage of time, thus "mirroring"
, , also translated as , or , is a Japanese idiom for the aesthetic appreciation of , or transience of things, and both a transient gentle sadness (or wistfulness) at their passing as well as a longer, deeper gentle sadness about this state being the reality of life.
Origins and analysis
The idiom comes from Heian period literature, but was picked up and used by 18th century Edo period Japanese cultural scholar Motoori Norinaga in his literary criticism of The Tale of Genji, and later to other germinal Japanese works including the . It became central to his philosophy of literature; he saw it as the main theme of The Tale of Genji. According to Norinaga, to "know" is to have a shrewd understanding and consideration of reality and the assortment of occurrences present; to be affected by and appreciate the beauty of cherry blossoms was an example of this knowledge provided by Norinaga. Various other scholars have discussed the term. Due to the Buddhist influence in Japan, the expression has also seen connection to the Anicca, which is one of the three marks of existence in buddhism, representing impermanence.
Awareness of the transience of all things heightens appreciation of their beauty, and evokes a gentle sadness at their passing. Norinaga saw the state of being as the fundamental condition of the concept. Ozu was well known for creating a sense of , frequently climaxing with a character very understatedly saying , after a familial and societal paradigm shift, such as a daughter being married off, against the backdrop of a swiftly changing Japan. Ozu has often expressed feelings by showing the faces of objects rather than the face of an actor. Some examples include two fathers contemplating the rocks in a "dry landscape" garden, and a mirror reflecting the absence of the daughter who has just left home after getting married.
Science fiction author Ken Liu's short story won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Short Story. Inspired by works like the science fiction manga , Liu sought to evoke an "aesthetic primarily oriented towards creating in the reader an empathy towards the inevitable passing of all things", and to acknowledge "the importance of memory and continuity with the past".
Akira Kurosawa's I Live in Fear and Shohei Imamura's Black Rain have been associated with the term.