WA. The Japanese Way of Harmony

What exactly is the Japanese spirit?

72 words to understand that true happiness is shared happiness.

Wa means harmony, but like all Japanese words, it evokes much more. Wa is, in fact, everything that is soft, serene, and moderate, but it also refers to everything that is Japanese. Wa is a prefix that applies to both things and concepts. Through wa, Japan teaches us its best lesson: beauty, joy, and civility are built with large doses of commitment, through continuous self-improvement, exercising patience, doing things carefully, and never at the expense of others, because truly lasting happiness is a project for everyone and never for just one person.

Laura Imai Messina, an Italian author based in Tokyo and creator of the blog Japan Mon Amour, takes us on a journey through seventy-two words that symbolize and embody the charm and essence of Japan, revealing the hidden meaning of names full of poetry; like the seventy-two stations of the ancient Japanese lunar calendar, which every five days offers an opportunity for renewal.

The teachings from Japan are more relevant than ever, even in the West. But what exactly is the Japanese spirit? Japan's ancient name was Yamato which, divided into its ideograms, means "Great wa," that is, "Great Harmony." And that harmony, which is a priority of Japanese culture and dominates the words and attitudes of its people, is also a concept in progress, a system of absorption, choice, and adaptation, which gives Japan that halo of magical mystery that fascinates the world.