#japan

I realized that the world did not exist for my benefit. It followed that the ratio of pleasant and unpleasant things around me would not change. It wasn't up to me. It was clear that the best thing to do was to adopt a sort of muddled cheerfulness. ↗

— Banana Yoshimoto

#change

Don't yield! Keep up your courage! The same sun looks down on all of us! ↗

— Eiji Yoshikawa

#taira-no-kiyomori #the-heike-story #courage

In most collectivist cultures, direct confrontation of another person is considered rude and undesirable. The word no is seldom used, because saying “no” is a confrontation; “you may be right” and “we will think about it” are examples of polite ways of turning down a request. In the same vein, the word yes should not necessarily be inferred as an approval, since it is used to maintain the line of communication: “yes, I heard you” is the meaning it has in Japan. ↗

— Geert Hofstede

#japan #yes #communication

This world- To what may I liken it? To autumn fields lit dimly in the dusk by lightning flashes. ↗

— Yu Minamoto

#death

Of late the nights are dawning plum-blossom white. ↗

— Yosa Buson

#death

Come out, Yamiko, come out... ↗

— Katlyn Charlesworth

#historical-fiction #japan #death

By means of steam one can go from California to Japan in eighteen days. ↗