Top 76 Japanese Proverbs
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Japan is a country with a long history and culture. They have many ways of thinking that are very different than the rest of the world. With that in mind, check out the top 76 Japanese proverbs.
Table of Contents
#76 – 70. Japanese Proverbs
76. Pulling water to my own rice paddy.
Meaning: Doing/speaking about things in a way to benefit yourself.
75. Big similarity, small difference.
Meaning: Similarities outweigh the differences.
74. To boil and drink the dirt underneath fingernails.
Meaning: Great people have greatness even in the dirt under their nails
73. If you do not enter the tiger’s cave, you will not catch its cub.
Meaning: Nothing ventured, nothing gained. / You can’t do anything without risking something.
72. Not seeing is a flower.
Meaning: Things will never be as you imagine, so you’re better off not seeing them. / Reality can’t compete with imagination.
71. Clear sky, cultivate, rainy, reading.
Meaning: Farm when it’s sunny, read when it rains.
70. Too long for an obi, too short for a tasuki.
Meaning: The Japanese proverb refers to an item that isn’t fit to be used in any situation.
#69 – 60. Japanese Proverbs
69. Humans everything `Saiou’ horse.
Meaning: All human affairs are like `Saiou’s horse; One’s fortune/luck is unpredictable and changeable
68. Rained on ground hardens.
Meaning: Adversity builds character
67. After the rain, earth hardens.
Meaning: Adversity builds character./After a storm, things will stand on more solid ground than they did before.
66. Overturned water doesn’t return to the tray.
Meaning: What’s done is done; “There’s no use crying over spilt milk”
65. Wake from death and return to life.
Meaning: To come out of a desperate situation and make a complete return in one sudden burst.
64. Eating meals from the same iron pot.
Meaning: Strengthening the sense of belonging to a community or a group by eating the same meals.
63. Fish to a cat.
Meaning: A situation where one can not let their guard down (because the cat can’t resist stealing your fish).
62. Even a fool has one talent.
Meaning: Even a fool may be good at something (I can’t think of another way of putting this!)
61. Jumping off from the Kiyomizu-no-Butai.
Meaning: Take a risky plunge and hope for the best in a situation.
60. Scattered clouds, disappearing mist.
Meaning: Disappear without a trace.
#59 – 50. Japanese Proverbs
59. Three people gathering can create wisdom.
Meaning: Two heads are better than one.
58. Not knowing is Buddha.
Meaning: Ignorance is bliss. / It’s better to not know the truth.
57. Fishing bream with shrimp as bait.
Meaning: Gaining great profit with a small amount of funds or work.
56. A monk for (just) three days.
Meaning: Giving up at the first sign of difficulty.
55. Let flow in the water.
Meaning: Forgive and forget; water under the bridge
54. The powerful person that holds up the house.
Meaning: This Japanese proverb points to the situation where people work hard for others but aren’t recognized for it.
53. Even the head of a sardine can become holy with devotion.
Meaning: With belief, anything can become holy because faith is mysterious.
52. Continuance (also) is power/strength.
Meaning: Don’t give up. Just continuing to hold on will yield/reveal strength and power. Continuing on after a setback is its own kind of strength. Perseverance is power.
51. A greeting is the local deity who turns up providentially.
Meaning: Arbitration in a quarrel is a godsend.
50. Counting raccoon dog skins before they’ve been caught.
Meaning: Counting one’s chickens before they’ve hatched.
#49 – 40. Japanese Proverbs
49. Walk across a stone bridge after hitting it.
Meaning: This Japanese proverb shows the necessity of taking precautions even though it may seem safe at first.
48. Giving birth to a baby is easier than worrying about it.
Meaning: Fear is greater than the danger. An attempt is sometimes easier than expected.
47. An apprentice near a temple will recite the scriptures untaught.
Meaning: The environment makes our characters.
46. A bee to a crying face.
Meaning: Misfortunes seldom come alone; “When it rains, it pours”
45. Cover/hide your head, and not cover your bottom.
Meaning: Don’t cover your head but expose your bottom, ie: you have to be careful not to expose your weak point while attempting to protect yourself
44. Thunderclap from a clear sky.
Meaning: A complete surprise.
43. Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon.
Meaning: Experience the beauties of nature, and in doing so learn about yourself.
42. Spilt water will not return to the tray.
Meaning: It’s no use crying over spilt milk. A separated couple can never go back to as it was.
41. Don’t let your daughter-in-law eat your autumn eggplants.
Meaning: Don’t let yourself be taken advantage of.
40. Even monkeys fall from trees.
Meaning: Everyone makes mistakes. Nobody’s perfect.
#39 – 30. Japanese Proverbs
39. 3 day monk.
Meaning: Someone who gives up easily or is adverse to work.
38. One stone, two birds.
Meaning: Killing two birds with one stone; Doing 2 things with one action.
37. 3 years sitting on a rock.
Meaning: This Japanese proverb means that even though you may seem to be going through hard times, something will change, and things will get better.
36. Child of a frog is a frog.
Meaning: Like father, like son.
35. A coin to a cat.
Meaning: Don’t offer things to people who are incapable of appreciating them.
34. Without knowing, you can be at peace like Buddha.
Meaning: Ignorance is bliss.
33. The festival afterwards.
Meaning: Even if you regret something, it’s too late, and it’s just a waste of time moping about it.
32. Luck exists in the leftovers.
Meaning: There is luck in the last helping.
31. Chanting a prayer to Buddha into a horse’s ear.
Meaning: This Japanese proverb means lecturing idealistic or magnificent things to a person or a thing that doesn’t or doesn’t try to understand is a waste of time.
30. If hurried, go around.
Meaning: When hurried it is often faster to take a roundabout route, (ie: “more haste, less speed”)
#29 – 20. Japanese Proverbs
29. A frog in a well does not know the great sea.
Meaning: People are satisfied to judge things by their own narrow experience, never knowing of the wide world outside.
28. Sticking out nail be hammered.
Meaning: The nail which sticks out will get hammered; encourages conformity
27. There are even bugs that eat knotweed.
Meaning: There’s no accounting for taste. / To each his own.
26. Dragon, head, snake, tail.
Meaning: Anticlimax, the beginning is like a dragons head, great and majestic and the ending is like a snakes tail, tiny and pathetic.
25. Ten men, ten colors
Meaning: To each their own.
24. The moon and the Chinese soft-shelled turtle.
Meaning: Things being so different beyond comparison.
23. The neighbor’s lawn is green.
Meaning: The grass is always greener on the other side.
22. Fallen blossom doesn’t return to the branch, a broken mirror cannot be made to shine.
Meaning: What’s done is done.
21. Her standing figure looks like a Chinese peony, her sitting figure looks like a tree peony, and her walking figure looks like a lily.
Meaning: This Japanese proverb describes the ideal looks and behavior of a woman by using flower metaphors.
20. Kappa being washed away by the river.
Meaning: Even a person who is a master at something can make mistakes too.
#19 – 10. Japanese Proverbs
19. Breaking wind, closing buttocks.
Meaning: There’s no point in squeezing your buttocks after you have farted; “No use shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted”
18. Hide your head but fail to hide your butt.
Meaning: You’ve hidden all of your flaws, but you’ve just hidden part of them and pretend that everything is fine but everyone else can see the problems.
17. Unless an idiot dies, he won’t be cured.
Meaning: You can’t fix stupid.
16. One who chases after two hares won’t catch even one.
Meaning: Trying to do two things at once will make you fail in both.
15. Ten people, ten colors.
Meaning: Everyone has their own tastes.
14. A pearl to a pig.
Meaning: Don’t offer things to people who are incapable of appreciating them
13. Melon field, under a plum tree.
Meaning: You must avoid actions which could be taken on a bad faith.
12. Dumplings over flowers.
Meaning: The person to whom it is directed prefers practical gain to aesthetics.
11. To sell oil.
Meaning: to spend time chitchatting or to waste time in the middle of a task.
10. The stake that sticks out gets hammered down.
Meaning: Don’t make waves.
#9 – 1. Japanese Proverbs
9. Chu songs on all sides.
Meaning: Defeat is clear; Situation is desperate beyond hope.
8. A kite breeding a hawk.
Meaning: A splendid child born from common parents.
7. Count the skins of badgers which haven’t been caught.
Meaning: Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched.
6. One’s Act, One’s profit/Advantage.
Meaning: You reap what you sow.
5. A bad wife spells a hundred years of bad harvest.
Meaning: A bad wife is a ruin of her husband.
4. Stumbling seven times but recovering eight.
Meaning: perseverance is better than defeat.
3. Gold coins to a cat.
Meaning: Giving a gift to someone who can’t appreciate it is a useless gesture.
2. If three women visit, noisy.
Meaning: Wherever three women gather it is noisy
1. Summer heater winter fan.
Meaning: Something which is out of season and therefore rendered useless.
Ideas for the top 76 Japanese proverbs come from the following sources.[1]Linguanaut – Japanese Sayings[2]tsunagu Japan – 20 Japanese Proverb That Will Teach You A Lesson[3]CMU.edu
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