Ganbaru — the Japanese art of resilience

I admire the Japanese for their way of life and philosophy in simplicity. While researching the notion of resilience across cultures I stumbled upon the term Ganbaru which is a Japanese term that doesn’t have a direct translation but means “hold well”, persevere through hardship, or “do your best”, “get to the end”.

It means to “stretch” your current abilities or go outside your comfort zone to achieve your goals. In Japan every kid grows up hearing it be it at school, in sports or for a new job!

The term has its origins in the Zen Buddhist practices where one learns to endure with patience and dignity.

For the japanese, resilience = endurance + patience + dignity