By LISA VOGT/ Special to Asahi Weekly
October 8, 2024 at 08:00 JST
The Statue of Magokoro towers over the central hall of Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district. The piece was created in 1960 to mark the store’s 50th anniversary and is intended to represent the “magokoro” (sincerity) of Mitsukoshi. It’s said to be one of the largest wooden carvings in the world and made of 500-year-old cypress trees that grew on the Kyoto mountain where Kifune Shrine is located. (Photo by Lisa Vogt)
When I hear or see the word “magokoro,” I picture an advertisement of a person holding out a summer “ochugen” gift box with a smile. The word sent me down a rabbit hole and got me pondering, first about the difference between “kokoro” and magokoro, until I realized that kokoro runs the gamut from “yoi kokoro” (good heart) to “yokoshima na kokoro” (wicked heart). Magokoro is true heart. [Read More]
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