Almost as soon as they open, the delicate blossoms begin to shed their petals. While through a Western lens, it seems this might diminish their joy, for the Japanese it actually heightens it. They have a phrase, mono no aware, that is hard to translate into English but loosely means “the gentle sadness of things.” It’s used to describe a pang of pleasure that exists alongside an awareness of its fleeting nature. It brings a strange consciousness that the intensity of joy we feel is in direct proportion to the loss soon to follow.
