The Moon Is Beautiful, Isn’t It?

月が綺麗ですね | tsuki ga kirei desu ne translates to “The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?” This phrase is a more poetic way of saying I love you. During Japanese writer Natsume Sōseki’s (1867-1916) teaching years, he supposedly overheard a student translating “I love you” rather awkwardly into its literal and direct translation: “Ware Kimi wo Aisu.” Soseki believed—as a product of his time and culture in the Meiji period—that this direct translation rejected Japanese sensibility. Thus, this more subtle, nuanced translation of “the moon is beautiful…” was born.