I’m sure many people have heard about this. There’s a popular Japanese saying, “Ichi-go Ichi-e.”
It literally means “one time, one meeting.”
It means this exact moment will never happen again in the same way.
Even if you meet the same person again, it won’t be exactly the same.
Even if you talk to someone again, it won’t happen exactly like before.
Even the things you experience won’t feel the same next time.
And the people who are with you won’t remain the same either.
They’ll change, and so will you.
So every meeting, every conversation, and every experience is once in a lifetime.
And once it’s gone, there’s no way back to it.
And maybe that’s why this phrase feels heavy sometimes, and gentle at the same time.
Ichi-go Ichi-e
This article was originally published on Medium on Feb 6, 2026.