Author: ageekinjapan

Categories
Ikigai

Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

I’m very happy to announce you that my new book has just been published in English. It is very different from A Geek in Japan, instead of trying to explain all about Japan in this new book I focus on just one aspect more deeply.

It all started when I explained my friend Francesc Miralles about the Japanese word Ikigai and we decided to write a book together. Ikigai in Japanese means “a reason for being”, you can also think of it as that thing in your life that gets you up in the morning. In the book we go deep in what it means to have a life of meaning and how it can help us to live happier and longer.

Thank you 🤗 all for reading and supporting A Geek in Japan all these years, without you this new book would have never been posible.

Available on Amazon.com since two days ago, order it now : Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.

If you want to keep updated and know more about my new book IKIGAI this are the channels that I will use from now on:

Available on Amazon.com since two days ago, order it now : Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life (Amazon.com).

Categories
Art Beautiful Japan

Ryoanji – 龍安寺

Over the last 14 years I’ve visited the zen garden Ryoanji (龍安寺) several times. I love that every time I visit this beautiful dry garden (karesan-sui) it feels different. It is like watching the same movie while noticing that you are growing old, and each time you notice and feel different details.

The first time visiting Ryoanji I was twenty three years old and I had just finished graduating from computer science. At that time, my rationalistic approach to engineering made me try to explain the beauty of this place in a scientific way. I even wrote a long post about it in my Spanish blog explaining how you could mathematically divide the geometry of the garden by analyzing the empty space between the rocks.

I learned that the important thing are not the rocks but the space between them, but I was a fool thinking that we can explain beauty following a scientific approach. I think I fabricated all the mathematical explanation just to feel comfortable with the fact that an art piece so simple as rocks placed on gravel is of such beauty and importance for the Japanese people.

This time I visited the place with different eyes and heart. I just sat down and enjoyed the scenery without wondering why it is so beautiful and trying to explain it. Now, I’m 36 years old and I grasp the fact that art is never complete without taking into account the subject observing it.

It is my consciousness, through the act of observing the dry garden, who makes the place beautiful and unique.

Is not enough to explain the garden in order to understand its beauty, you have to know yourself.

Categories
JapanGuide

Fukui

After visiting Shirakawa-go we went north all up the way until Fukui. It was my first time in Fukui prefecture. We decided to only visit Fukui City, it was a big mistake… the city is disappointing and boring. The castle was so unimpressive (there is not even a castle, it is a dull government building) that I didn’t even take a single picture of it! If you are curious, this is a picture of the “castle” I just found on Fukui’s government website:

Don’t bother too much visiting the castle. The only beautiful and worth place to visit around Fukui’s city center was the Yokokan garden. The Matsudaira lord, who ruled Fukui at the beginning of the Edo Era lived in these gardens considered by the Japanese Government as a National Designated Place of Scenic Beauty.

One morning is enough to visit the Yokokan gardens. I would not recommend spending the night in Fukui City, leave to the northern coast. Next time I go to Fukui I will focus on visiting the villages on the seaside which they say are beautiful.