ことわざ-Japanese Idiom

いちごーいちえ

”一生に一度だけの機会。生涯に一度限りであること。生涯に一回しかないと考えて、そのことに専念する意。もと茶道の心得を表した語で、どの茶会でも一生に一度のものと心得て、主客ともに誠意を尽くすべきことを言う。”

From Goo Jisho.

“Ichi-go- Ichi-e” means “one time, one meeting” and the concept is often linked to the Japanese tea ceremony spirit. Since you only have one chance, you might as well do your best, and the concept is strongly linked to Zen Buddhism and its concepts of transience. In the Japanese tea ceremony, you should keep in mind that the opportunity to serve will never come again, so you should do your best. During the end of Edo period, a tea master used the word “ichi-go ichi-e” and this became a commonly used concept for tea ceremony. “ichi-go” refers to the period between life and death in Buddhism and “ichi-e” refers to the gathering and both words are strongly related to the Buddhism.

The movie “Forest Gump” is titled フォレストガンプ／一期一会in Japanese.