無常

One Current,
Many Names

eleven pamphlets on Japan — myth, lineage, the sense of beauty, and a borrowed Greek frame — all flowing from one idea: that everything passes

⤓ download all eleven, bound (PDF)

I · origins & lineage

the age of the gods — the story under it all

日本の系譜

The Unbroken Line

sixteen eras, the gods to Reiwa

the Chrysanthemum Throne, one bloodline

II · the sense of beauty

the tender ache of things passing

beauty of the imperfect and impermanent

the circle drawn in a single breath

the break mended in gold

Sen no Rikyū and the wabi spirit

One River, Three Names

mono no aware · yūgen · wabi-sabi, one current

III · the greek frame · ethos · pathos · logos

The Way · ethos

character walked into being

the word, the reason, and its limit

Mono no Aware · pathos

(the third of the triad — see 04)