Difficulty in Finding A Definition
Because the term has been applied to several different concepts in Japanese folklore, there remains some confusion as to what the term actually means.
For example, literally, Tsukumogami is translated as “old woman hair,” though other scholars have defined it as “pasqueflower” as well. This comes from a tenth-century poem:
Momotose ni/ Hitotose taranu/ Tsukumogami/ Ware wo kourashi/ Omokage ni miyu.
Read more about this topic: Tsukumogami
Famous quotes containing the words difficulty in, difficulty, finding and/or definition:
“Because they did not see merit where they should have seen it, people, to express their regret, will go and leave a lot of money to the very people who will be the first to throw stones at the next person who has anything to say and finds a difficulty in getting a hearing.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“I am continually fascinated at the difficulty intelligent people have in distinguishing what is controversial from what is merely offensive.”
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“The thing that’s between us is fascination, and the fascination resides in our being alike. Whether you’re a man or a woman, the fascination resides in finding out that we’re alike.”
—Marguerite Duras (b. 1914)
“Although there is no universal agreement as to a definition of life, its biological manifestations are generally considered to be organization, metabolism, growth, irritability, adaptation, and reproduction.”
—The Columbia Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition, the first sentence of the article on “life” (based on wording in the First Edition, 1935)