Mono no aware

[3][4][6] Japanese cultural scholar Kazumitsu Kato wrote that understanding mono no aware in the Heian period was "almost a necessity for a learned man in aristocratic society", a time when it was a prominent concept.

[3] The term has seen gradual change in its meaning, although "from the beginning it represented a feeling of a special kind: 'not a powerful surge of passion, but an emotion containing a balance...'".

[8] Norinaga asserted that the feeling of mono no aware may be so profound that allusions to senses, highlighting "the sound of wind or crickets, [...] the colour of flowers or snow", would be the only apt expression.

Some examples include two fathers contemplating the rocks in a "dry landscape" garden, and a mirror reflecting the absence of the daughter who has just left home after getting married.

[10] Inspired by works like the science fiction manga Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō, Liu sought to evoke an "aesthetic primarily oriented towards creating in the reader an empathy towards the inevitable passing of all things", and to acknowledge "the importance of memory and continuity with the past".

[7] In Mike Carey's Rampart Trilogy, "Monono Aware" is the pseudonym of a Japanese pop star whose personality and memories are licensed as content for the Sony DreamSleeve, an AI-enhanced music player released before the fall of human civilization.