mono.no.aware.物.の.哀.れ

two saturdays ago you were in search for some ume, some flowers, some pink blossoms.  you thought it was about time to see a prime blossom which usually starts blossoming late january but due to the rather cold winter in tokyo, ume has been shy to show its faces. 

today and in fact also yesterday you felt a little bit sad.

you talked to your japanese colleagues in tokyo over phone.  even your japanese colleagues are in some sort of "exodus". mostly bringing their families to the south. osaka, kyoto, yamaguchi, nara, fukuoka to name a few cities . you don't trust the foreign media news on the televison but you trust the opinions of your co-workers. because they are japanese, they are locals, they know the situation the best.

mono no aware

物の哀れ

a new phrase you learnt today. sensitivity to things

an appreciation of beauty as a state which does not last and cannot be grasped.

"where have all the flowers gone

long time passing

 when will they ever learn

when will they ever learn"

another folk song came to your mind

the ume may not yet in full blossom

but it is certain that some people in this country (japan) would never see a ume blossom again. blossoms native to their country. you’re going to enjoy them soon in any moment of your return to tokyo.

but so many others won’t.

and that breaks your heart

and you became a little sad. and you cry. you cry out to God.

 

 

 sure you cry. every single day since the tragedy, but that doesn’t stop you from anything else. you cry because you are alive and some people you used to mingle and meet and argue with no longer are the same again.  there is a change in things.  mono no aware.  sensitivity to things.

[p/s: all photos were taken on 5th march at atami baien (熱海梅園). atami is a hotspring and beach resort about an hour away from tokyo by shinkansen.]