#setsunan

not my art

IG mypicturebookcafe

Setsunan, happens around February 3 in Japan to drive away evil spirits by scattering soy beans in and out. pen and ink

I’ve had the url setsunan since my humble beginnings on tumblr (s/o to 2012 me ayyyy). I never thought I’d change it, but I came across a word recently that made me wanna switch things up. First thing’s first, a little background knowledge:

My first url is a play on the name “Setsuna”; it’s a pretty popular unisex name in Japan. I think I first came across the name when I was reading Angel Sanctuary by Kaori Yuki. Idk why that name stood out to me--I’ve just always liked it haha. I wanted that to be my url, but of course, it was already taken. I tried several variations of the name but ended up just tacking an “n” on the end of it (a common way to nickname someone in Japan, either adding an “n” sound to the end of a person’s surname or given name).

SO, WHY TAI-SETSU-NA?

Well, I love puns and I’m majoring in Japanese haha. The word  大切な is an adjective that translates to “precious; very important.” I also just really like the way it rolls off the tongue. The very first character  大 is the kanji for “big”, so to me it’s almost like saying “big setsuna” (yaaaay puns. yes, I’m corny as hell).

Anyhoo, my new url can be seen as both a way to appreciate one of my favorite Japanese words, and a play on the name “Setsuna.”