Japanese Proverbs

A wise man hears one and understands ten.

* 案ずるより産むが易し。
o Anzuru yori umu ga yasashi.
o Literally: Attempt is sometimes easier than expected.

* 馬鹿は死ななきゃ治らない。
o Baka wa shinanakya naoranai.
o Literally: Unless an idiot dies, he won't be cured.


* 出る杭は打たれる。
o Deru kui wa utareru.
o Literally: The stake that sticks out gets hammered down.
o or Deru kugi wa utareru[1] [2]
o Literally: The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.


* 挨拶は時の氏神。
o Aisatsu wa toki no ujigami.
o Literally: Greetings are the people who turn up at the right moment.


* 秋茄子は嫁に食わすな。
o Akinasu wa yome ni kuwasuna.
o Literally: Don't let your daughter-in-law eat your autumn eggplants.


* 悪妻は百年の不作。
o Akusai wa hyaku-nen no fusaku.
o Literally: A bad wife spells a hundred years of bad harvest.


* 残り物には福がある。
o Nokorimono ni wa fuku ga aru.
o Literally: Luck exists in the leftovers.

* 虎穴に入らずんば虎子を得ず。
o Koketsu ni irazunba koji wo ezu.
o Literally: If you do not enter the tiger's cave, you will not catch its cub.


* 晴天の霹靂
o Seiten no heki-reki.
o Literally: Thunderclap from a clear sky.

* 猿も木から落ちる。
o Saru mo ki kara ochiru.
o Literally: Even monkeys fall from trees.

* 蓼食う虫も好き好き
o Tade kuu mushi mo sukizuki
o Literally: There are even bugs that eat knotweed.


* 井の中の蛙大海を知らず。
o I no naka no kawazu taikai wo shirazu.
o Literally: A frog in a well does not know the great sea.

* 蛙の子は蛙。
o Kaeru no ko wa kaeru.
o Literally: Child of a frog is a frog.

* 鳶が鷹を産む。
o Tonbi (or Tobi) ga taka wo umu.
o Literally: A kite breeding a hawk.


* 覆水盆に帰らず。
o Fukusui bon ni kaerazu.
o Literally: Spilt water will not return to the tray.


* 二兎を追う者は一兎をも得ず。
o Ni usagi wo ou mono wa ichi usagi wo mo ezu.
o Literally: One who chases after two hares won't catch even one.

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* 継続は力なり。
o Keizoku wa chikara nari.
o Literally: Perseverance is strength.


* 門前の小僧習わぬ経を読む。
o Mon zen no kozō narawanu kyō wo yomu.
o Literally: The young monk before the gate can read sutra without studying them.


* 知らぬが仏
o Shiranu ga hotoke.
o Literally: Not knowing is Buddha.


* 見ぬが花
o Minu ga hana.
o Literally: Not seeing is a flower.


* 能ある鷹は爪を隠す。
o Nō aru taka wa tsume wo kakusu.
o Literally: The talented hawk hides its claws
+ A wise man keeps some of his talents in reserve

Idiomatic phrases

* 猫に小判 neko ni koban
o Literally: gold coins to a cat.
o Meaning: Giving a gift to someone who can't appreciate it; A useless gesture; "Pearls before swine."
o Background: According to superstition, cats love round, shiny objects like coins even though they're ignorant of their true use, so this proverb also carries the connotation of an objective pursued without completely comprehending it.

* 猫に鰹節 neko ni katsuobushi
o Literally: fish to a cat.
o Meaning: A situation where one can not let their guard down (because the cat can't resist stealing your fish).

* 七転び八起き nanakorobi yaoki
o Literally: stumbling seven times but recovering eight.
o Meaning: perseverance is better than defeat.
o Equivalent: perseverance is the key.

* 三日坊主 mikka bōzu
o Literally: a monk for (just) three days.
o Meaning:　Giving up at the first sign of difficulty.

* 花よりだんご hana yori dango
o Literally: dumplings over flowers
o Meaning:　The person to whom it is directed prefers practical gain to aesthetics.

* 水に流す mizu ni nagasu
o Literally: let flow in the water
o Meaning: Forgive and forget; water under the bridge

* 雨降って地固まる ame futte ji katamaru
o Literally: after the rain, earth hardens
o Meaning: Adversity builds character./After a storm, things will stand on more solid ground than they did before.

* 油を売る abura o uru
o Literally: to sell oil
o Meaning: to spend time chitchatting or to waste time in the middle of a task
o Background: Comes from Edo period hair oil salesmen who took their time chitchatting with the customers when selling.

* 石の上に三年 ishi no ue ni san nen
o Literally: Three years on the rock.
o Meaning: It takes a long time sitting on a stone before it becomes warm. Expect to work at something for three years before you see results.

Four-character idioms

Most of them come from either Chinese literature or writing in (pseudo-)Chinese by Japanese.

* 竜頭蛇尾 ryuutou dabi
o Literally: dragon, head, snake, tail
o Meaning:　Anticlimax, the beginning is like a dragons head, great and majestic and the ending is like a snakes tail, tiny and pathetic.

* 晴耕雨読 seiko udoku
o Literally: clear sky, cultivate, rainy, reading
o Meaning:　Farm when it's sunny, read when it rains.

* 四面楚歌 Shimen soka
o Literally: Chu songs on all sides
o Meaning: Defeat is clear; Situation is desperate beyond hope.
o Source: Xiang Yu, recorded by Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian

* 十人十色 jūnin toiro
o Literally: ten men, ten colors
o Meaning:　To each his/her own. / Different strokes for different folks.
o Note: This is also a pun, since even the character "十" is read in two ways, jū and to.

* 三日坊主 mikka bouzu
o Literally: 3 day monk.
o Meaning: Someone who gives up easily or is adverse to work.

* 大同小異 daidō shōi
o Literally: big similarity, small difference
o Meaning:　Similarities outweigh the differences.
o Source: a shortened passage from Zhuangzi.

* 一石二鳥（いっせき　にちょう） isseki nichō
o Literally: one stone, two birds
o Meaning:　Killing two birds with one stone; Doing 2 things with one action.
o Source: Unknown. No similar line is known in Chinese texts, so this is presumably a translation of the English saying, "Kill two birds with one stone."

* 雲散霧消 unsan mushō
o Literally: scattered clouds, disappearing mist
o Meaning:　Disappear without a trace.

* 我田引水 gaden insui
o Literally: pulling water to my own rice paddy
o Meaning:　Doing/speaking about things in a way to benefit yourself.
o Source: unknown, though both Gaden and Insui appear in the Chinese classics. It is presumed to be coined in Japan.

* 夏炉冬扇 （かろ　とうせん） karo tōsen
o Literally: Summer heater winter fan
o Meaning:　Something which is out of season and therefore rendered useless.

* 起死回生 kishi kaisei
o Literally: Wake from death and return to life
o Meaning:　To come out of a desperate situation and make a complete return in one sudden burst.

* 　自業自得 Jigou Jitoku
o 　Literally: One's Act, One's profit/Advantage.
o Meaning: That's what you get, Just deserves. You shall reap what you have sown.

* 瓜田李下 kaden rika
o Literally: Melon field, under a plum tree
o Meaning: Stepping into a melon field, standing under a plum tree (such behavior causes misunderstanding that you want to steal those fruits); implying that you must avoid actions which could be taken on a bad faith.
o Source: a shortened passage from a poetry of Cao Zhi
* 花鳥風月 Kachou Fuugetsu
o Literally: Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon
o Meaning: Experience the beauties of nature, and in doing so learn about yourself.