"After the war, Japan was occupied by the allied forces, and based on peace and democracy as values to be upheld, esta…"

"On reaching the age of eighty, I feel fortunate that I am able to lead a life always feeling gratitude to those who h…"

"All these hundreds of years, from the days of the oldest poetry collections, there have been poems about cherry bloss…"

"Every worm to his taste; Some prefer to eat nettles."

"You are being very demanding indeed. Where, I wonder, will we find the woman to satisfy you? You really should have s…"

"Children retain a great deal, and when they grow up they start going over things and rejudging them from a grownup’s …"

"The quality that we call beauty...must always grow from the realities of life, and our ancestors, forced to live in d…"

"Whenever I see the alcove of a tastefully built Japanese room, I marvel at our comprehension of the secrets of shadow…"

"My mother was remarkably slight, under five feet I should say, and I do not think that she was unusual for her time. …"

"Such is our way of thinking — we find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and th…"