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Love the name. For those that are curious: It's the Japanese word for sunlight, which is filtered through the leaves of the trees. In particular, it means the
by thesurlydev 2y ago
Love the name. For those that are curious:
It's the Japanese word for sunlight, which is filtered through the leaves of the trees. In particular, it means the visible light rays.
“Komorebi” is composed of several parts of the word: “Ko” means tree or trees. “More” means: something that comes through, something that shines through or seeps through. “Bi” means: sun or sunlight.
The word “Komorebi” reflects the romantic and emotional love of the Japanese for nature.
- brobdingnag_pp 2y agoSo, ”god rays”?
- Hunpeter 2y agoI would also include beams of sunlight going through an opening in the clouds under the term "god ray", rather than it being specific to tree leaves. However, I'm not a native speaker.
- eastof 2y agoThere is also a word for this in Icelandic I believe. I remember seeing an interview with the Icelandic band Sólstafir, and they said this is the meaning of their name. I can't find the link now though.
- krsdcbl 2y agoIt's fascinating how specific words in different languages can be, yet how they have a range of meaning that still relates them closely. "solstafir" means almost the same, but more precisely translates as "crepuscular rays" -- the beams of sunlight sometimes emerging right at twilight, when the sun passes clouds just on the edge of the horizon. how i learned about that: Solstafir was one actually of the first bands i discovered through early-ish open internet. I stumbled upon them on former rokk.is back when i was in school, where they used to distribute their music for free.
- getoj 2y agoAllow me to be pedantic and say that English has a perfectly good two-word phrase for this exact phenomenon, "dappled light." The internet is very big on Japonisme (not to say Orientalism) so I feel obligated to present a contrary viewpoint once in a while.
- munchler 2y agoContrary viewpoint to what? I don't think anyone claimed that there was no English equivalent.
- contravariant 2y agoNo but the English equivalent doesn't get accused of reflecting the English' romantic and emotional love of nature.
- krsdcbl 2y agobut it may very well be seen as a mark of English pragmatism, or other more fitting attribution of archetypes, in return. Interpretations of cultural origins of expressions in either language and romantic admiration for the shapes that words take is neither meant as a qualification of the speakers, nor is the fascination for one culture automatically meant to be entitled or hostile towards another. You may very well admire the poetic yet observative nature of Japanese composita, as well as take delight in uncommon, inventive and elegantly rythmic English idioms. You may as well interpret freely what you see in them. All without putting one above the other, or regarding them as competitors. And I'll be happy to have learned both today!
- nsonha 2y agowhy do you assume that people made shit up? Maybe they learned it from somewhere? Maybe the "romantic and emotional love of nature" exists and there no need for anyone to "accuse" something to be it. You don't sounds like someone who can speak Japanese (or any foreign language really), so why do you think your theory is more plausible than that of people who do?
- 2y ago
- paisley5810 2y agoI love the word (e.g. the movie Perfect Days), but I feel a little sad seeing these beautiful ideas adopted as names for mundane products. I guess there's no harm in it - it's OK, really - but it feels a little cheapening.
- meatjuice 2y agoThere are some space between windows when using this, which create some komorebis