• Asia,  Reading

    5 (+1) Japanese novels to read in 2020

    Happy New Year! 2020 is the year that the Olympic Games are heading to Japan. Even though I have never been to the land of the rising sun, I’ve always been fascinated by the Japanese culture and pretty much anything else Japanese (including literature). In fact, in the last couple of years, I have read quite a few Japanese novels, and in 2020 I plan to read even more, as well as other books from Japan, or about Japan.  A few days ago, Barack Obama shared his annual list of favorites — books, films, and music. The former US President reflected that ‘outlets like literature and art can enhance our…

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  • Reading,  Wellbeing

    Ikigai & Komorebi: Finding purpose & beautiful moments

    I’ve always been fascinated by Japan and anything Japanese. Yet, I am still to visit the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’, as Japan is often called in the West. Pronounced ‘Nihon’ or ‘Nippon’ in Japanese, the name of the country actually means ‘the origin of the sun’. Fairly recently, I’ve come across two Japanese words; since they do not have an equivalent in the English language, I have introduced them both to my vocabulary: komorebi and ikigai.   Komorebi   Komorebi is a noun, which translates to ‘sunlight filtered through the trees’. Such a beautiful and poetic word, isn’t it? Last week, I wrote about some of the activities that I…

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