7 Cool Japanese Words You Should Know

Not only is it fun to say, it's has a beautiful meaning. Wabi-sabi is a world view that finds beauty in imperfection.

We're all imperfect (as is the world), so let's find beauty in one another regardless.

Kintsugi could be considered a branch of wabi-sabi, and is the art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted with gold or silver.

This means acquiring a stack books to build up without reading them. I'm certainly guilty of this, and even have a separate book shelf for books I've yet to read.

You know when you're in a forest, and the sunlight poetically shines in between the trees? Now you have a word for it!

Your ikigai is your reason for living. It could be your work, a hobby, your family, your spouse. It's the thing that makes that difficulties of life worth it.

This is a fun one, and means "three-day monk". You can use it to describe on someone who gave up on something too quickly. "Bozu" makes me think of "Bozo" which makes it easier for me to remember. I've been a Mikka Bozu many times in life.

Shibui is an adjective for someone or something that has gotten better with age.

Use it at your next high school reuinion.