Japan Quotes

I loved the quiet places in Kyoto, the places that held the world within a windless moment. Inside the temples, Nature held her breath. All longing was put to sleep in the stillness, and all was distilled into a clean simplicity.The smell of woodsmoke, the drift of incense; a procession of monks in black-and-gold robes, one of them giggling in a voice yet unbroken; a touch of autumn in the air, a sense of gathering rain.

~ Pico Iyer

Being a samurai is all about selfless service and if the lord abuses the servant, it is no longer a situation of service; it becomes the situation of a victim. It is never acceptable for a samurai to be a victim. It is never acceptable to allow a lord to abuse you or rob you of your dignity. In such a situation, it is acceptable to walk away.

~ Alexei Maxim Russell

In pursuing a ‘way,’ Japanese typically move beyond an interest in craftsmanship to a kind of sacred search for the ultimate.

~ Morinosuke Kawaguchi

The rain that fell on the city runs down the dark gutters and empties into the sea without even soaking the ground

~ Haruki Murakami

It would seem that the more irresponsible and crafty one is, the more likely one is to have a talent for storytelling.

~ Osamu Dazai

As you can imagine, those who had fallen this far had been so worn down by their tortures in the seven other hells that they no longer had the strength to cry out.

~ Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Directly beneath the Lotus Pond of Paradise lay the lower depths of Hell, and as He peered through the crystalline waters, He could see the River of Three Crossings and the Mountain of Needles as clearly as if He were viewing pictures in a peep-box.

~ Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Great robber though he was, Kandata could only trash about like a dying frog as he choked on the blood of the pond.

~ Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

As the bell rang he would look back at the departing year. He always found it a moving experience. Sometimes he was racked by sorrow and regret. Even when the sentimentality of the announcers repelled him, the tolling of the bells echoed in his heart.

~ Yasanuri Kawabata

They needed a reason why a little kid would commit murder, someone or something to point the finger at, and I think they were relieved when they hit upon horror movies as the culprit. But there's no reason a child commits murder, just as there's no reason a child gets lost. What would it be - because his parents weren't watching him? That's not a reason, it's just a step in the process.

~ Ryū Murakami

It’s not easy for a young gay fabulous boy in Japan, I should know, that’s why I became a woman.” Momma Nakama

~ Rochelle H. Ragnarok

When he appeared before the lord, his lordship was smitten immediately with the boy's unadorned beauty, like a first glimpse of the moon rising above a distant mountain. The boy's hair gleamed like the feathers of a raven perched silently on a tree, and his eyes were lovely as lotus flowers. One by one his other qualities became apparent, from his nightingale voice to his gentle disposition, as obedient and true as a plum blossom.

~ Saikaku Ihara

How much does he lack himself who must have many things?

~ Sen No Rikyū

At this point I came across one of the vending machines that only Japan has. I have to admit that I love the whimsical items sold in such appliances, like all sorts of junk food, beer cans, whisky bottles and even underwear. This particular machine sold both whisky and underwear, which truly is a bizarre combination, or maybe not, considering all the underwear were female panties. It was therefore my theory that older men would come by and buy the whisky, and then when they were drunk and young women passed by, the men would then offer them panties as gifts for sexual favours. Ya, it all made perfect sense to me.

~ Andrew James Pritchard

I wonder how Japan's futuristic robot doctors will treat the worst and most widespread disease humanity already has - artificially lowered IQ. Making people stupider makes them buy more stuff – so “How many robots can you afford?” will be the big question of one of the following decades, unless we go back to Communism and produce everything for the sake of it, for free.

~ Will Advise

When someone who's starved of love is shown something that looks like sincere affection, is it any wonder that she jumps at it and clings to it?

~ Sayo Masuda

Often I'll go outside and just place my hands on the soil, even if there's no work to do on it. When I am filled with worries, I do that and I can feel the energy of the mountains and of the trees.

~ Andy Couturier

Time is what we have in this life, and how we use it determines what our life is.

~ Andy Couturier

My goal is to draw a line with some 'flavor' to it.

~ Andy Couturier

I think all people want freedom, but they've got this idea inserted into their head about money.

~ Andy Couturier

I finally understood that I couldn’t avoid working to provide for myself, but that can also be a wonderfulthing, a beautiful thing.

~ Andy Couturier

Sometimes just to touch the ground is enough for me, even if not a single thing grows from what I plant.

~ Andy Couturier

Why is it that so many people start to value money so much that they trade in most of the hours and years of their life in order to get it?

~ Andy Couturier

They have taken the idea of nonharming, of gentleness toward the earth, to a very radical level. Even the weeds are not enemies.

~ Andy Couturier

What art should do, I think, is advance the generation into the next era. It should be one step ahead of the ordinary, ahead of what is already known. Art is what pulls on the next age. I’m not saying that my art is that, but that it would be good if it could be.

~ Andy Couturier

I thought I should make a place to bring light down into this world. All things that become realities start in that place of someone imagining them.

~ Andy Couturier

Of course, my Christmas is (so much more) gorgeous and romantic (than Germany's)!! And unlike the rest of the world, we leave wine behind for Santa Claus!So Santa-san is delivering gifts to children while driving under the influence . . . ?

~ Hidekaz Himaruya

Japan!everything in details perfection.

~ Baris Gencel

I could have sworn that the man's eyes were no longer watching his daughter dying in agony, that instead the gorgeous colors of flames and the sight of a woman suffering in them were giving him joy beyond measure.

~ Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

The pale whiteness of her upturned face as she choked on the smoke; the tangled length of her hair as she tried to shake the flames from it; the beauty of her cherry-blossom robe as it burst into flame: it was all so cruel, so terrible!

~ Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Chained inside the carriage is a sinful woman. When we set the carriage afire, her flesh will be roasted, her bones will be charred: she will die an agonizing death. Never again will you have such a perfect model for the screen. Do not fail to watch as her snow-white flesh erupts in flames. See and remember her long black hair dancing in a whirl of sparks!

~ Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Still more horrible was the color of the flames that licked the latticed cabin vents before shooting skyward, as though - might I say? - the sun itself had crashed to earth, spewing its heavenly fire in all directions.

~ Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Where do you go when you die twice-lest a thousand deaths?

~ Katlyn Charlesworth

It is dark and there are bad creatures in these woods.Yes, there are...

~ Katlyn Charlesworth

Oh, she's still here;she's just not as pretty... anymore.

~ Katlyn Charlesworth

Mothers cry in anguishand fathers curse in anger,while others turn away in sadness,all for the children who are lost.

~ Katlyn Charlesworth

There are so many other fun ways to dishonor the family name that buying girls’ underwear shouldn’t be one of them.

~ Rin Chupeco

Even at a time like this, the street is bright enough and filled with people coming and going—people with places to go and people with no place to go; people with a purpose and people with no purpose; people trying to hold time back and people trying to urge it forward.

~ Haruki Murakami

If the love is true, it will wait until the dream becomes a reality. True love also gives strength to a dream.

~ Lorraine Koh

Who needs drugs when you have Takeshi's Castle?

~ Craig Charles