Mono-no aware

"Mono-no aware" describes the feeling of being moved or a "movement of the mind" which is caused by something seen, heard or experienced. Mono-no aware is a feeling of ingenuous emotions such as sadness, pleasure and joyfulness.

It was Motoori Norinaga, a Japanese classical scholar in the Edo period, who discovered mono-no aware in the literature and Waka poetry written by the nobles of the Heian period. Norinaga first defined mono-no aware as a single word of exclamation for example, "Oh!" which naturally passed one's lips when one was moved.

Then, he thought that the tales and poetry were born from the desire of the author to describe this "movement of the mind" in words and share it with the people. Norinaga thought highly of The Tale of Genji and wrote: "This is the best story to give one an understanding of mono-no aware".

Mono-no aware is an ancient Japanese aesthetic sense on which waka poems and tales written by the nobles in the Heian period have their foundations.