Introduction In this paper, I will consider what Motoori Norinaga 's Monono Aware exactly is, mainly from three aspects. One aspect is history, which shows when the concept of Monono Aware appeared, and whether Motoori Norinaga’s ways of thinking were changed or not as time went by. Also, I will look at some literature written before Tale of Genji, to check how Monono Aware was used in such literature. And second aspect is, whether there is any difference between "Monono Aware" and "Aware". Motoori Norinaga said these two are fundamentally the same. However, some modern scholars said there are slight differences between them. The other aspect is, how Lady Murasaki used Aware differently according to contexts. As a conclusion, I will discuss …show more content…
She says there is a tendency that Aware means sympathy, love for human beings, sorrow, and what people cannot make their desire come true, for example. Therefore, in Heian period, Aware means no longer a sigh, but expresses abstract feelings of people, and concept, so it can be said that Aware exists deeply in the bottom of people’s mind. In “Genji Monogatari”, the word “Aware” is used one thousand times or more. According to Onomura, the meanings of Aware has are deep in the story, and she shows us some example. The example is appeared in what Hikaru Genji felt. When he noticed Kashiwagi’s betrayal, he got angry and saw him with scorn. However, when Kaoru was given birth, he realizes karma, and it means Kashiwagi will also be suffered from something like what Genji given in the future. In this context, Onomura says that Aware means not only sympathy, but also a suffering which Genji and Kashiwagi, both are equally given. In addition, Ito (1999) mentioned that Monono Aware is not a concept which was originally created in Genji Monogatari, but it takes over the concept of “Miyabi”, which is appered and established in Ise