Mono No Aware
/ˌmoʊnoʊ noʊ əˈwɑːreɪ/noun
A Japanese aesthetic awareness of the impermanence of things and the bittersweet emotion this evokes.
Did you know?The phrase was central to the eighteenth-century scholar Motoori Norinaga’s interpretation of The Tale of Genji, where emotional sensitivity to fleeting life became an aesthetic virtue.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Japanese
Japanese
もの (mono)
“A thing, object, or phenomenon; broadly, something that exists”
Ancient Japanese
Japanese
あはれ (aware)
“An exclamation of deep feeling, wonder, pity, or emotional poignancy”
Heian Period, 8th–12th centuries
Japanese
もののあはれ (mono no aware)
“The poignant emotional response to the transient world, especially as expressed in literature”
18th Century
Japanese
もののあはれ
“An aesthetic principle articulated and popularized by Motoori Norinaga through his study of classical Japanese texts”
20th Century
English
mono no aware
“A Japanese aesthetic concept describing bittersweet awareness of impermanence”
Modern English
English
mono no aware
“A borrowed expression for the beauty and sadness of fleeting existence”
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