mono no aware

is a darker, derivative aesthetic category of the beautiful found more fully in darker emotions such as sorrow, melancholy, and longing than in happy emotions because darker emotions are deeper.

The link between Onishi's theory and the traditional meaning of the term is more tenuous. First characterizing Norinaga as one among many researchers who had sought to uncover the meaning of the term 'aware,' Onishi then bases the weight of his argument on certain portions of Norinaga's theory. He is particularly concerned with the discussion of emotional depth, concentrating on Norioaga's statement that aware is found more fully in darker emotions such as sorrow, melancholy, and longing than in happy emotions because darker emotions are deeper.9 From here, Onishi's trajectory leads him into discussions of European poetry and philosophy as well as life and literature in the Heian court. He then argues in general about the relationship between beauty and sorrow. His theory is at all times pulled along by an overarching aim: the notion that aware is what he calls a 'derivative aesthetic category,' one phase of the beautiful, with certain aspects that set it apart from other such categories (such as the tragic, comic, and sublime as well as yugen and sabi in the Japanese tradition).

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Onishi