As a student of Japanese, I feel that its gentle, poetic soul is deeply in tune with the slow, nostalgic atmosphere of my little digital garden. I collect here a few words that shine with grace and quiet delicacy, like a caress, and that resemble what I seek: calm, care, poetry.
Komorebi
ๆจๆผใๆฅ๏ผใใใใณ๏ผ
Komorebi is a term for the light filtering through the leaves of trees, describing that initially dazzling sensation given by the direct contact between the eyes and the sun's rays, followed by the peace produced by the brilliant green of the leaves and the play of shadows on the ground.
On a cultural level, it has a deeper meaning: Komorebi is also an encouragement to find the light in the darkest moments of life. It expresses a state of mind, an elusive feeling, like the rays of sunlight filtering through the leaves of trees in a forest. It is magical and melancholic at the same time, symbolising the constant change of all things. It is a word that tells of the slowness of summer afternoons, the silence that dances in nature.Kanji: ๆจ (tree) + ๆผใ (filter) + ๆฅ (sun)
Shinrinyoku
ๆฃฎๆๆตด๏ผใใใใใใ๏ผ
Shinrin yoku means โforest bathingโ: not a bath in the literal sense, but a gentle, immersive walk in the woods โ a moment to breathe in the green, let go of urgency, and allow the forest to heal the soul.
The term was coined in Japan in the 1980s as a form of natural therapy, but it holds something more delicate: a return to slowness, to the whisper of leaves, to the inner rhythm of the seasons. It's the effect of relaxation, peace and balance that one feels when listening to the sound of the wind in the trees, when smelling the scent of rain-soaked leaves or touching the tips of the trees. This practice has been the subject of a real health policy initiative by the government.
Kanji: ๆฃฎ (forest) + ๆ (woods) + ๆตด (bathe)
Yuugen
ๅนฝ็๏ผใใใใ๏ผ
Yuugen is the subtle, profound grace of things not fully seen or spoken. It is the beauty of the moon behind a thin cloud, the sound of distant bells in the evening, the emotion that rises when words fall silent.
In traditional Japanese aesthetics, yuugen suggests a sense of mystery, depth, and the ineffable: that which cannot be explained but only felt. Itโs the soulโs quiet trembling in front of the vastness of the world, the feeling of being moved by something you cannot quite name. It invites slowness, reverence, and wonder.
Kanji: ๅนฝ (dim, subtle) + ็ (mysterious, profound)
Utsuroi
็งปใใ๏ผใใคใใ๏ผ
Utsuroi is the quiet change of the seasons, the subtle shift from one moment to another, like the way petals fall or sunlight turns golden at dusk. It holds a gentle awareness that everything flows, transforms, and moves forward.
Utsuroi is time in its most poetic form: the hush between heartbeats, the grace in impermanence. It reminds us to observe the present gently.Kanji: ็งป (shift, move) + ใใ (inflectional ending, from ๅค่ช)