365 Days of Japanese Philosophy

Want the calm, care and quiet purpose Japan is famous for, in five minutes a day?

365 Days of Japanese Philosophy brings a thousand years of Japanese wisdom into the moments that make up your life: a rushed morning, a setback at work, a cup of tea, a goodbye at the door. One page a day gives you one idea to carry through the day.

Walk north with the poet Bashō, who gave away his house at 45 and covered 2,400 km on foot. Take tea with Sen no Rikyū, the tea master who refused to beg a warlord's pardon. Meet Miyamoto Musashi, the swordsman who claimed he never lost a duel and spent his last years painting, and the psychiatrist who studied what kept people alive on an island sanatorium (she called it ikigai).

The year moves through twelve ideas, one per month: ikigai, wabi-sabi, kaizen, mono no aware and haiku, bushidō, Zen, Shinto and mottainai, ma, kintsugi, shokunin craftsmanship, wa and the tea ceremony, and ichigo ichie.

• Quick Daily Habit: A quotation and a short reflection, about five minutes of reading. Open to today's date or any page at random; every page stands on its own.
• Simple and Accessible: No Japanese and no background needed. Every term is explained in plain English, and you'll get the real story behind ideas the internet gets wrong (that famous four-circle ikigai diagram was drawn by a Spanish astrologer).
• Perfect Gift for Anyone Who Loves Japan: For the friend planning a first trip to Kyoto, and the one who came home and hasn't stopped talking about it. Give it in December and they start on January 1.
• Powerful and Practical: Find purpose without needing a job title, treat your cracks like kintsugi gold, get better in small daily steps with kaizen, and meet each day as the one-time event it is.
• Free Companion Included: Sign up inside the book for the free daily email edition and a printable reflection journal.

In Japan, tailors thank their broken needles. One shrine has been rebuilt every 20 years since the year 690. A bowl mended with gold is worth more than it was before it broke. By December you'll see your own days the same way: worth tending, worth repairing, worth noticing.

From the makers of 365 Days of Tao and 365 Days of Zen.

Find meaning, embrace imperfection, one page at a time.