It’s a new year, so it's a good time to reintroduce Yū|Mono to our newer followers by explaining our name. The word Yū|Mono is a portmanteau combining two Japanese words, yūgen and mono. While mono means “things,” yūgen is a bit more complicated.

I’ve been drawn to Japanese aesthetics since my college days. I double-majored in psychology and East Asian studies, and I found that Eastern philosophy neatly bridged both disciplines. Japanese aesthetics evolved from these philosophies, particularly Zen Buddhism, and became the defining elements in Japanese art. These aesthetic concepts are more than visually pleasing; they are the physical manifestation of Buddhist teachings. While popular concepts like wabi-sabi have become ubiquitous in the design world, there are so many wonderful aesthetic qualities that have been identified and defined in Japanese art. One of those concepts is yūgen.

I was immediately struck by yūgen because it made me feel something inexplicable. I still struggle to adequately define it, but the common definition is “an awareness of the universe that triggers an emotional response too deep and powerful for words.” To me, yūgen is the simultaneously awe-inspiring and soul-crushing realization of your own mortality and insignificance within the vastness of the universe, and the beauty in that awakening. It’s what allows you to appreciate a quiet Autumn sunset when the air suddenly becomes crisp, and the birds take flight, disappearing into the fading glow of the horizon–that moment is yūgen.

Yūgen is the final reverberations of a bell long after it’s been rung. It’s the moon, partially obscured on a cloudy night. It’s the pause that follows a line of poetry or the negative space in an ikebana floral arrangement. It’s the soft, steady rain on the wooden roof of my grandparents' house when I’m a child, lying on the living room floor, staring at the ceiling. Yūgen incorporates many of the philosophical elements that initially drew me to Buddhism: mindfulness, impermanence, gratitude, humility, and a strong connection to nature. It’s a type of quiet beauty that invites introspection and asks you to feel rather than to see. It hints at a hidden world beyond what your five senses detect–it’s the sixth sense that prickles to let you know there’s something else there.

Yūgen continues to inspire me, and I continue to seek out moments of yugen in my everyday life. My goal for Yū|Mono is to create jewelry that allows the wearer to slow down and be fully present, even if it’s just for the few moments it takes to put an earring on. Life is short, and we are here for a brief stint, so take the time to breathe, look around, and appreciate the subtle, mysterious, profound beauty of yūgen.