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Japanese Literature Quotes

Browse 225 quotes about Japanese Literature.

Japanese Literature Quotes

“I've been mistaken to assume that in this little village in the spring, so like a dream or a poem, life is a matter only of the singing birds, the falling blossoms, and the bubbling springs. The real world has crossed mountains and seas and is bearing down even on this isolated village, whose inhabitants have doubtless lived here in peace down the long stretch of years ever since they fled as defeated warriors from the great clan wars of the twelfth century. Perhaps a millionth part of the blood that will dye the wide Manchurian plains will gush from this young man's arteries, or seethe forth at the point of the long sword that hangs at his waist. Yet here this young man sits, beside an artist for whom the sole value of human life lies in dreaming. If I listen carefully, I can even hear the beating of his heart, so close are we. And perhaps even now, within that beat reverberates the beating of the great tide that is sweeping across the hundreds of miles of that far battlefield. Fate has for a brief and unexpected moment brought us together in this room, but beyond that it speaks no more.”

ArtPhilosophyPoetryExistentialismModernismJapanese LiteratureFloating World
Book:The Three-Cornered World
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“14. Hateful Things: Someone has suddenly fallen ill and one summons the exorcist. Since he is not home, one has to send messages to look for him. After one has had a long fretful wait, the exorcist finally arrives, and with a sigh of relief one asks him to start his incantations. But perhaps he has been exorcising too many evil spirits recently; for hardly has he installed himself and begun praying when his voice becomes drowsy. Oh, how hateful!”

WorkJapanese LiteratureTiredness
Book:The pillow book
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“Knowing that it is the earth we tread, we learn to tread carefully, lest it be rent open. Realizing that it is the heavens that hang above us, we come to fear the echoing thunderbolt. The world demands that we battle with others for the sake of our own reputation, and so we undergo the sufferings bred of illusion. While we live in this world with its daily business, forced to walk the tightrope of profit and loss, true love is an empty thing, and the wealth before our eyes mere dust.”

ArtPhilosophyPoetryExistentialismModernismJapanese LiteratureFloating World
Book:The Three-Cornered World
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“...He said defensively, "But from now on, Japan is sure to develop." "Japan's headed for a fall," the man said coolly. Say a thing like that in Kumamoto and you'd get a punch in the nose, or be called a traitor. The atmosphere Sanshiro grew up in left no room in his head for such an idea. Just because he was young, was the man having some fun at his expense? The man kept on grinning. Yet his way of talking was perfectly composed. Not knowing what to think, Sanshiro held his tongue. His companion went on, "Tokyo is bigger than Kumamoto. Japan is bigger than Tokyo. And what's bigger than Japan is..." He paused and looked at Sanshiro, who was listening intently. "...the inside of your head. That's bigger than Japan. Don't let yourself get bogged down. You may believe your way of thinking is for the good of the nation, but you could actually be bringing it down." When he heard this, Sanshiro felt he had indeed left Kumamoto. And he realized, too, what a small person his Kumamoto self had been.”

JapanModernismJapanese LiteratureMeijiTurn Of The Century
Book:Sanshirō
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“Giây phút nhìn con thở yếu ớt vì uống quá nhiều thuốc ngủ, cha tưởng chừng tim mình ngừng đập. Dù thế nào, cha cũng phải vững vàng trước mặt mẹ con, nhưng lòng cha hoàn toàn trống rỗng, như thể trái tim đã đi đâu mất rồi. Cha cuống cuồng gọi xe cấp cứu, nhưng bác sĩ nói rằng coi như hết hy vọng, rằng có thể con sẽ phải sống thực vật suốt đời. Dù vậy, họ vẫn dốc lòng cứu con. Con còn ít tuổi, các y bác sĩ đã cố gắng hết sức để mang con trở về bằng mọi giá. Nhìn cảnh ấy, cha cảm động biết chừng nào. Và con hồi sinh một cách thần kỳ như để đáp lại nhiệt huyết của mọi người. Đúng lúc ấy cha đã nghĩ, người tốt hay xấu đều không còn quan trọng...”

VietnamColorfulJapanese LiteratureVietnamese
Author:Eto Mori
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“People called Mother a beauty, when she was young. I remember her very well in those days—until I was fourteen or fifteen she was as beautiful as ever. When I compare that memory of her with Satsuko, the contrast is really striking. Satsuko is also called a beauty. That was the main reason why Jokichi married her. But between these two beauties, between the 1890’s and now, what a change has taken place in the physical appearance of the Japanese woman! For example, Mother’s feet were beautiful too, but Satsuko’s have an altogether different kind of beauty. They hardly seem to belong to a woman of the same race. Mother had dainty feet, small enough to nestle in the palm of my hand, and as she tripped along in her straw sandals she took extremely short, mincing steps with her toes turned in. (I am reminded that in my dream Mother’s feet were bare except for her sandals, even though she was dressed to go visiting. Perhaps she was deliberately showing off her feet to me.) All Meiji women had that pigeon-like walk, not just beauties. As for Satsuko’s feet, they are elegantly long and slender; she boasts that ordinary Japanese shoes are too wide for her. On the contrary, my mother’s feet were fairly broad, rather like those of the Bodhisattva of Mercy in the Sangatstudo in Nara. Also, the women of their day were short in stature. Women under five feet were not uncommon. Having been born in the Meiji era, I am only about five feet two myself, but Satsuko is an inch and a half taller.”

Japanese LiteratureFootbinding
Book:Diary of a Mad Old Man
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“Светлината блясва в човешкия живот само за най-кратък миг, вероятно за броени секунди. Ако тази светлина помръкне, без да си успял да доловиш откровението, което тя съдържа, втори шанс няма. Вероятно ще ти се наложи да изживееш остатъка от живота си в безнадеждните дълбини на самотата и съжалението. В този сумрачен свят вече не се стремиш към нищо и не очакваш нищо. Носиш в себе си само изсъхналия труп на онова, което е трябвало да бъде.”

Japanese Literature
Book:The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
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“どうしてみんなこれほどまで孤独にならなくてはならにのだろう、僕はそう思った。どうしてそんなに孤独になる必要があるのだ。これだけ多くの人々がこの世界に生きていて、それぞれに他者の中に何かを求めあっていて、なのになぜ我々はここまで孤絶しなくてはならないのだ。何のために？この惑星は人々の寂寥を滋養として回転を続けているのか。 ¿Por qué nos sentimos tan solos? ¿Qué necesidad hay? ¿Por qué y para qué aislarnos del resto de la gente si somos tantos los que vivimos en este mundo y cada uno de nosotros busca y espera algo de los demás? ¿Acaso este planeta gira únicamente para nutrirse de la desolación de las personas?”

Japanese LiteratureHaruki Murakami
Book:Sputnik Sweetheart
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“Наблизо имаше няколко дървета, от които се разнасяше механичният писък на птица, която сякаш навиваше пружина. Наричахме птицата с пружината. Измисли го Кумико. Не знаехме каква птица е и как изглежда, това обаче изобщо не я вълнуваше. Всеки ден тя долиташе в дърветата в квартала и започваше да навива пружината в притихналия ни малък свят.”

Japanese Literature
Book:The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
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“「韓国では猫を食べるっていう話を聞いたけれど、本当？」 「私もその話を聞いたことはある。でも私のまわりには、実際に食べた人はいないわね。」 —He oído que en Corea se comen a los gatos. ¿Es verdad? —Yo también he oído esa historia, pero la verdad es que a mi alrededor no había una sola persona que los hubiese comido.”

Japanese LiteratureHaruki Murakami
Book:Sputnik Sweetheart
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“私には同性愛の経験はなかったし、自分にそういう傾向があると考えたこともなかった。でももしすみれが真剣に求めているのなら、私はそれにこたえてもかまわないと思ったのよ。 Nunca tuve una experiencia homosexual, y jamás pensé que tenía esa tendencia. Pero si eso era lo que Sumire estaba buscando, no me importaba corresponderle.”

Japanese LiteratureHaruki Murakami
Book:Sputnik Sweetheart
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“この女性はすみれを愛している。しかし性欲を感じることはできない。すみれはこの女性を愛し、しかも性欲を感じている。僕はすみれを愛し、性欲を感じている。すみれは僕を好きではあるけれど、愛してはいないし、性欲を感じることもせきない。 Esta mujer amaba a Sumire, pero no sentía ningún deseo sexual por ella. Sumire, en cambio, amaba a esta mujer y la deseaba sexualmente. En cuanto a mí, yo amaba a Sumire y la deseaba, y sé que ella me quería mucho, pero no me amaba ni me correspondía sexualmente.”

Japanese LiteratureHaruki Murakami
Book:Sputnik Sweetheart
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“まだとても若くて底知れぬ力を持っているのに、まだ折れてもいない未来の骨のために、わざわざ肉を切り、骨に金具をはめ、何日も痛い思いをすることを選ぶ人がいる。私には理解できない。でもここは人が多すぎる。私の言うことが正しいとは限らない世界なのだ。”

Japanese LiteratureBanana Yoshimoto
Book:Il dolore, le ombre, la magia
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“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.”

MurderJapanJapanese LiteratureJapaneseHorror Movies
Book:In the Miso Soup
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“Every time he studied this instrument, with its slender, gleaming steel rod that tapered down to such needle-like sharpness, he wondered why it was necessary to have things like this in the world. If it were truly only for chopping ice, you'd think a completely different design might do. The people who produce and sell things like this don't understand, he thought. They don't realize that some of us break out in a cold sweat at just a glimpse of that shiny, pointed tip.”

HorrorPsychologicalJapanese LiteratureCrime Thriller
Book:Piercing
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“Held in the custody of childhood is a locked chest; the adolescent, by one means or another, tries to open it. The chest is opened: inside, there is nothing. So he reaches a conclusion: the treasure chest is always like this, empty. From this point on, he gives priority to this assumption of his rather than to his reality. In other words, he is now a “grown-up.” Yet was the chest really empty? Wasn’t there something vital, something invisible to the eye, that got away at the very moment it was opened?”

Japanese Literature
Book:Acts of Worship: Seven Stories
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“It’s odd how one’s memories of youth turn out so bleak. Why does the business of growing up—one’s recollections of growth itself—have to be so tragic? I still haven’t found the answer. I doubt if anybody has. When I finally reach that stage at which the placid wisdom of old age... occasionally descends on a person, then I too may suddenly discover that I understand. But I doubt whether, by that time, understanding will have much point.”

Japanese Literature
Book:Acts of Worship: Seven Stories
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“Le persone che si lasciano incantare, che seguono in massa qualcuno che non produce niente, non capisce niente, ma parla bene in maniera persuasiva. A queste persone non passa neanche per l’anticamera del cervello che potrebbero sbagliarsi. Non riescono neanche a immaginare che possono ferire qualcuno irreparabilmente, senza motivo. Non si assumono la minima responsabilità degli effetti della loro condotta. Sono loro, quelli di cui ho paura. Sono loro quelli che vedo in sogno. Nel sogno tutto tace, e mi appaiono delle persone senza volto. Il silenzio si infiltra ovunque come acqua fredda, e in quel silenzio, tutto si scioglie.”

JapanJapanese LiteratureMurakami
Book:The Elephant Vanishes
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“Pero éste no es su Dios. Es mi Dios. Lo he aprendido porque he sacrificado mi vida, porque me han lacerado la carne y desgarrado la piel, chupado la sangra, arrancado las uñas y despojado de mi tiempo, mis ilusiones, y recuerdos. No es un Dios con forma. No viste de blanco ni luce largas barbas. No tiene doctrina, libro sagrado o preceptos. No recompensa ni castiga. No concede ni arrebata. No ha dispuesto un Cielo al que subir ni un Infierno al que caer. Dios, simplemente, está ahí, haga frío o no.”

Japanese Literature1q84 3
Book:1Q84
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“Além disso, os seres humanos insistem em manter os gatos como animais de estimação, apesar da nossa angústia em relação à mortalidade, mesmo sabendo que os gatos morrerão muito antes de nós, causando aos donos uma dor incalculável. (...) Se olharmos bem para a questão, a morte de um gato não é muito diferente da morte de um ser humano.”

AnimalsCatsJapanese LiteratureFantasiesAsian Literature
Book:If Cats Disappeared from the World
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“Há um limite para quão bem nos conhecemos a nós próprios. Não sabemos a impressão que causamos nos outros, não temos como conhecer o nosso próprio futuro e não podemos saber como será a nossa própria morte. E é por isso que precisamos dos gatos. É exatamente como disse a minha mãe: os gatos não precisam de nós; são os seres humanos que precisam dos gatos.”

AnimalsCatsJapanese LiteratureFantasiesAsian Literature
Book:If Cats Disappeared from the World
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