Every culture has its personal sayings concerning the distinctiveness and transience of the current second. In recent times, the English-speakers have typically discovered themselves reminded, by means of the expression “YOLO,” that they solely dwell as soon as. (The question of whether or not that ought to actually be “YLOO,” or “You Stay Solely As soon as,” we put apart in the meanwhile.) In Japan, unsurprisingly, one someinstances hears a way more venerable equivalent: “ichi-go ichi‑e,” which some learners acquainted with the Japanese language needs to be assured has nothing to do with strawberries, ichigo. Fairly, the saying’s belowlying Chinese characters (一期一会) may be translated as “one time, one meeting.”
The Buddhistically inflected “ichi-go ichi‑e” is only one within the huge library of yojijukugo, excessively condensed aphoristic expressions written with simply 4 characters. (Other countries with Chinese-influenced languages have their versions, including sajaseongeo in Korea and chéngyǔ in China itself.) It descends, because the story goes, from a slightly longer saying favored by the sixteenth-century tea master Sen no Rikyū, “ichi-go ni ichi-do” (一期に一度).
One should pay respects to the host of a tea ceremony as a result of the meeting would solely ever happen as soon as — which, after all, it might, even when the ceremony was a regularly scheduled occasion. For we never, to borrow an historic Greek tackle this entire subject, step into the identical river twice; no two occasions, separated in time, can ever truly be identical.
One implication, as noted within the explanatory movies above from the BBC and Einzelgänger, is that we should always savor whatever second we happen to search out ourselves in, however imperfect, as a result of we gained’t get a second probability to take action. And if it provides little or nothing to get pleasure from, we are able to discover solace in the truth that its particular displeapositive, too, can never revisit us. With the previous gone and the long run never guaranteed, the current second, in any case, is the one time that actually exists for us, so we’d wagerter make ourselves comfortin a position within it. Although these concepts have perhaps discovered their most elegant and memorable expression in Japan, they’re laboriously considered exclusive cultural property there. The Japanese title of Forrelaxation Gump, in any case, was Foresuto Ganpu: Ichi-go Ichi‑e.
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Primarily based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. He’s the creator of the newsletter Books on Cities in addition to the books 한국 요약 금지 (No Summarizing Korea) and Korean Newtro. Follow him on the social webwork formerly generally known as Twitter at @colinmarshall.
