The slang translation of Funniki is “vibes”. A naturally created feeling or mood pertaining to a place or person. An aura.

Derived from 不可思議 fuka shigi, meaning “unfathomable”. A sense of wonder and mystery beyond complete tangible understanding. For example, Alice in Wonderland is translated as “Fushigi no kuni no Alice.”

Momijigari is made up of two parts: momiji (紅葉), which means ‘red maple leaves’, and gari (狩り), which means ‘hunting’.

A proverb speaking to growing through hardship.

A meeting of the characters for grain & fire, calling back to ancient fall harvest practices of scorching the fields to burn locust eggs to save the next year’s crops.

A core Japanese philosophy yet one that is so difficult to translate and so often misrepresented across the world. I have tried my best to do this deep, meaningful word justice in this blog post.

A Japanese slang word.

The idea of giving everything space and pause to breathe and grow, that what is ‘not there’ is as important as what is. The Japanese kanji 間 = door + sun, meaning light spilling through the empty space of the doorway.

Leaves changing colour; the colour shift of autumn.

Sunlight leaking through trees.

The appreciation of the transient beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete in the physical world. Read more here.

A form of nature therapy known to restore an individual’s mental and/or physical health by immersing yourself in nature. Read more here.

The idea that nothing is ever truly broken, and that breakages are part of the history of an object rather than something to disguise. Read more here.

Small, continuous improvement encouraging experimentation and self-reflection in an aligned way, intertwining discipline, feedback, teamwork, reflection, authenticity and transparency.

Hansei captures the desire for continual improvement as a life-long journey, accepting and learning from mistakes with humility as a transformative meditation on personal growth.