Unfortunately, all of my friends who came with me to Ueda disposed of the calendars we received at the Anraku temple. So I found similar calendars online:
自分の使命を生きるための
日めくりカレンダー
あなたの人生はあなたのもの
A day-by-day calendar
for living your mission
Your life is your own.
What's the point? It's too obvious.
枠とっぱらって自由に自分を表現しよう!!
Break past your barriers and express yourself freely!!
I'll do so when I want to.
今あるものすでに持っているものを活かす！
Take advantage of what you currently have!
Is the exclamation mark necessary?
必要なのは一歩踏み出す勇気！
You only need courage to start!
Maybe.
昨日より今日
今日より明日
ひとつ多く
笑えますように
I hope that every day, I'll smile once more than the day before.
Do you want to smile 3650 times a day after ten years? This kind of artificial cheerfulness and illusion of progress irks me to no end. I accept that there are days when I'm unable to smile.
I don't know why, but these are always written with brushes. There are so many calendars like these in Japan, so if you ever come to Japan, look for them! They're easily found in izakaya pub toilets.
Hi Akiko,
Thanks for sharing! Those calenders look interesting. I'd probably put one up if I had one because they look like art 😅
I agree with Linda — the calendars themselves are beautiful with the brushed calligraphy, even if the message is inane 😜 Maybe they're written by brush as a sort of discipline for the monks; in the old days, they'd have monks write copies of the Bible by hand. But you're right — the messages are super corny. They remind me of fortune cookies 🥠
@LindasLinguas Thanks for your comment! Yes, if I could see these through the eyes of a baby, it would be beautiful. However, for us Japanese, they're like commercial music that we're pushed to listen to excessively. Of course, the reason there are so many of these is because of demand, I guess half of the Japanese enjoy them.
@CocoPop Wow, their appearance is quite popular among non-Japanese! And I learned new words; inane and corny. Thank you!
hahahahahaha As I always say "We're all here to learn!" and what better place to learn new words than in context 👍🏻🤩
Now that I’ve seen the calendar, I’d call it a calendar of motivational sayings.
Hi, Akiko, I really loved your comments on the quotes written on those calendars, haha! I agree with you. I do not like cliché, extremely positive quotes; I like the term "toxic positivity" for that. Despite the message, I do love the calligraphy, and I think they're a good way to memorize new Japanese words! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Just Do It! :D
Hahaha. It reminds of the "Live, Laugh, Love" stickers that some people put on their walls as decoration. Just like the calendars in your post, some people also find them funny/weird or don't like them, and it's a meme online :D
@CocoPop I won't forget inane and corny because they're linked to these calendars in my memory!
hahaha, I love that! 👍🏻🤩
@Sunflower1234 These are calendars of motivational sayings, as you mentioned, but the calendar of the Anraku temple was more like something that forced self-reflection with condescending sayings. Other calendars have sayings that are simply soothing.
@Larissa_GL You'll definitely see these calendars during your stay in Japan!
@eugen_blick "Just Do It!" just makes me laugh.
@hdrx I didn't know about "Live, Laugh, Love" meme. I agree it's similar to strange calendars in Japan. Even if it's truly significant, loss of flexibility in forms dulls its meaning.