Original: The term was coined in the eighteenth century by the Edo period Japanese cultural scholar Motoori Norinaga , and was originally a concept used in his literary criticism of The Tale of Genji , and later applied to other seminal Japanese works including the Man ` y sh , becoming central to his philosophy of literature , and eventually to Japanese cultural tradition .
Simplified: The term mono no aware was first used by Motoori Norinaga ( 1730-1801 ) to describe Heian Period ( 794 AD - 1185 AD ) literature , especially Tales of Genji .