• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • World
  • Social
  • Crypto Currencies
  • Privacy Policy

NewsOTP

You Everyday Online News

Kintsugi: Japan’s ancient art of embracing imperfection

July 18, 2021 by World News

JAPAN|

Meaning “joining with gold”, this centuries-old art is more than an aesthetic. For the Japanese, it’s part of a broader philosophy of embracing the beauty of human flaws.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold — built on the idea that in embracing flaws and imperfections, you can create an even stronger, more beautiful piece of art. Every break is unique and instead of repairing an item like new, the 400-year-old technique actually highlights the “scars” as a part of the design. Using this as a metaphor for healing ourselves teaches us an important lesson: Sometimes in the process of repairing things that have broken, we actually create something more unique, beautiful and resilient.


Although most people won’t intentionally break pottery pieces they love, this is not the norm in Japanese culture. Broken ceramics are decorated with lacquer and powdered-gold, a Japanese tradition dating back more than 500 years. This is a way to highlight imperfections instead of hiding them. This is not only a way to calmly break a beloved piece of pottery, but it also reminds us of the beauty and fragility of our human nature.


It may seem odd to embrace the old and broken in a world that values youth, perfection, and excess. Kintsugi is a 15th-Century tradition that encourages people to embrace the old and battered. It means “to join with Gold” and reminds us to be positive when things go wrong and to enjoy the small victories in life.Kintsugi is an extension to the Japanese philosophy of wabi sabi.

It sees beauty and value in the imperfect. It takes three months to restore the broken pieces with gilded gold. The fragments are carefully glued together using the sap from an indigenous Japanese tree. After drying for a few weeks, the cracks are covered with gold.


It is important to learn to accept and embrace imperfections and flaws in an age of mass production, quick disposal, and human sustainability.

Wabi sabi: admire imperfection
Wabi sabi is about celebrating imperfections and living simply. “Everyone goes through tough times and leading a life of perfection isn’t necessarily realistic,” Kumai says. In Japanese, wabi means alone and sabi is the passage of time. Together, they teach us how to embrace the good and bad parts of ourselves and the asymmetry of life. Dr. Rachel O’Neill, LPCC, a therapist at Talkspace, says, “Embracing the imperfect means that we celebrate our strengths. This shift of mindset, from striving for an impossible ideal to embracing our strengths, leads to a more positive and strength-oriented mindset.”


Kintsugi is the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold — a metaphor for embracing your flaws and imperfections.

Kintsugi reminds us that something can break and yet still be beautiful, and that, once repaired, it is stronger at the broken places. … This is an incredible metaphor for healing and recovery from adversity.

Filed Under: Social

Primary Sidebar

You May Like

Army Shooter Is First US Service Member to Win Gold Medal at Tokyo Olympics

OLYMPIC| An Army lieutenant became the first U.S. service member to clinch a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics with a first-place finish in women’s shotgun skeet on Monday.First Lt. Amber English, a logistics officer and member of the Army Marksmanship Unit, bested Diana Bacosi of Italy, the 2016 women’s skeet gold medalist. “Amber English […]

Unique Deer With Piebaldism Becomes The Famous Star Of The ‘Deer Tracks Junction’ (6 pics)

The world is filled with unique beings that adds to the diverse puzzle we call earth. We’ve seen animals with albinism, leucism, but have you ever seen an animal with piebaldism? Meet Dragon, this adorable baby deer who was rejected from his mother at birth. The little deer found a new loving home at Deer Tracks […]

George Boateng: Ghanaian in Japan says his body Should not be Returned to Ghana if he dies

George Boateng, a man from Ghana who now resides in Japan has made some profound comments after he was asked in a live interview if he will ever return to his home country. Chris Vincent, who interviewed the gentleman, and shared a snippet of the video on his personal Facebook handle which has gotten a […]

Olympics organizers admit wasted around 4,000 boxes of food

OLYMPIC| Tokyo Games organizers on Wednesday admitted to throwing away approximately 4,000 of the 10,000 pre-ordered bento boxes full of food that was to be fed to volunteers on the day of the opening ceremony. Masanori Takaya, a spokesman for the organizing committee, confirmed the report and apologized in a press conference at the main […]

The Beloved Cat Stationmaster In The Southwest Japan City Of Taketa, Died In An Accident

Nya, the beloved cat stationmaster in the southwest Japan city of Taketa, died in an accident on the night of June 8. Nya, whose name means “meow,” began to appear around Bungo-Taketa Station on the JR Hohi Line in the Oita Prefecture city more than 10 years ago. With a friendly and gentle character, the […]

Japanese Stationery Company Develops Translucent Eraser

The rubber eraser is said to be roughly 250 years old. But for all its old age, the partner to any pencil has always had one major flaw. You can’t see what you’re erasing. Until today. Osaka-based stationery company Seed, who has been making erasers since the 1950s, has developed a translucent eraser. Seed says […]

Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito claim Japan’s first ever Olympic gold in table tennis

JAPAN| History has been made at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after Japan’s Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito became the first pair to win table tennis Mixed Doubles gold at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Monday 26th July. In an extraordinary final which went the distance, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen made an explosive start […]

Japan to reopen probe into ex-PM Abe’s dinner spending scandal

TOKYO| According to Friday’s statement, the inquest body ruled that Shinzo Abe’s earlier decision to not indict him was improper. Prosecutors will now reopen their investigation into the former Prime Minister. The Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution issued a decision on July 15. It concerns allegations of endowments as per the law governing public […]

S Korea hates Japan more than N Korea, Gallup Poll reveals

TOKYO| Nothing brings a nation together like a common enemy and the Olympics give us an excuse to degrade every other country on the planet world without it seeming xenophobic. It was in the midst of this festive atmosphere that Gallup Korea published their annual poll showing the country’s opinion of the rest of the […]

Tokyo reports record high 3,865 coronavirus cases

TOKYO| The Tokyo metropolitan government on Thursday reported a record high 3,865 new coronavirus cases, up 688 from Wednesday. The average for Tokyo over the past seven days stands at 2224.1. People in their 20s (1,417 cases), their 30s (782) and their 40s (612) accounted for the highest numbers, while 443 cases were aged under […]

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in