The Danish «hygge» is now known by everyone I believe, but as a Norwegian it is more about ‘koselig’ for me.
Cozy, warm, content, pleasant, enjoyable, simple joys. There is no one word for it in English, nor Japanese.
I never finished the Hygge book (because I bought it in Japanese and got stuck at all the tecnical words for lighting and just never picked it back up oops), but I feel like the two concepts are closely related.
Imagine a cold winter’s day, sitting in front of the fireplace with a warm beverage in your hand talking to a good friend.
Or sitting in your favorite armchair with a good book and a cat on your lap.
Or going for a hike in the woods which is blanketed in autumn leaves, sitting down and having a snack on a fallen tree trunk.
That’s koselig.
I usually feel the need to make life koselig in the colder months, which is a lot shorter here in Japan compared to Norway.
Anyways, yesterday I got lots of koselig stuff.
A beverage is a must for koselig, a hot beverage in the cold months, and whichever you prefer for the warm months.
Last, but not least of my koselig item haul from yesterday;
This little pottery ornament light! Very simple but oh so koselig.
It also creates a bit of a magical mood;
I thought I wanted to be a minimalist, but I am starting to see that I want to be a koselig-ist haha. I want to live simply, but also to be surrounded by my favorite things that bring me joy and warmth, and at the same time not have too much stuff which will make tidying and cleaning a hassle. It’s a fine balance that I am still working on.
Diary of a Norwegian in Japan 