FAVORITE JAPANESE SAYINGS

There must be thousands. These are just the ones I’ve come across and like especially. So it’s a continuing collection that I always give to people participating in my “tag along” trips to Japan in October. During the journey some individuals occasionally may discover that one of these sayings seems to be speaking directly to them and providing guidance. Perhaps that’s part of The Magic Of Japan and it only works over there.

ARI NO IKARI WO HIKU YO
“Like an ant dragging an anchor”
(Attempting more than one is capable of accomplishing)

YASE-UMA NI OMONI
“A heavy burden on a lean horse”
(Entrusting someone with task beyond their ability)

KUMO NI KAKE-HASHI
“To lean a ladder against the clouds”
(An impractical enterprise)

INORU YORI KASEGE
“Toil rather than pray.”
(It is wiser to work steadily than to rely upon good fortune.)

KAZE FUKE DOMO YAMA WA UGOKAZE
“Though the wind blows, the mountain does not move.”
(Patient self-control remains indifferent to disturbances)

TAISEI WA RIJI NI IRAZU
“A great voice does not enter into vulgar ears.”
(Sophisticated ideas are not understood by common people.)

ISHI GA NAGARETE
“The stone floats off”
(Something entirely unexpected or apparently unnatural)

HI GA NISHI KARA DETE HIGASHI NI IRU TOKI
“When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east”
(A reference to anything impossible or absurd)

O WO FURU INU WA TATAKAREZU
“The dog that wags its tail cannot be beaten.”
(People who remain cheerful and affable and conciliatory are less apt to be treated unkindly.)

OI-KI WA MAGARANU
“Ancient trees cannot be bent.”
(Don’t try to make the elderly conform to new ways.)

SHOMOTSU WA HOZON-SARETA KOKORO NARI
“Books are preserved minds.”

JUNIN -NAMI
“Ten persons in a row”
(Average, ordinary, mediocre)

SAIFU KARUKEREBA GENKI NASHI
“When the purse is light, there is no vitality.”
(Witout money to pay for basic needs, one can become depressed.)

HACHIJU NO TE-NARAI
“To study penmanship at eighty”
(It’s never too late to learn.)

KUSURI YORI YOTO
“Better than medicine is the care of health.”

NARAI SEI TO NARU
“Habit becomes one’s nature.”
(Constant repetition of either poor behavior or beneficial habits will make these things into automatic actions.)

BIMBÒ KOWAI MONO NASHI
“The poor have nothing to fear.”
(Robbers target persons displaying valuables and finery.)

SEWASHII TOKI WA YAMAI NASHI
“When you are busy you have no illness.”
(Those who keep their life vigorous don’t become sick.)

URANAISHI ONOGA MINOUE SHIRAZU
“The fortuneteller does not know his own future.”
(Persons eager to help others often cannot direct themselves.)

ZENSHA NO KUTSUGAERU WA KOSHA NO IMASHIME
“When a cart ahead overturns, it’s a warning to carts following.”
(We attain wisdom by observing the mistakes of others.)

TAIKAI WA SAIRYU WO ERABAZU
“The ocean is not unreceptive to a small stream.”
(Unimpressive persons and things can contribute to large ones.)

OITARU UMA WA MICHI WO WASUREZU
“An old horse does not forget his path.”
(Good habits of long standing are a sure footing for the future.)

OITE MASUMASU SAKAN NARI
“In old age one becomes increasingly vigorous.”
(We generate greater control of our energies as we grow elderly.)

ZUKAN SOKU-NETSU WA CHOU NO IN
“For a long life, keep your feet warm and your head cool.”

IDOBATA NO CHAWAN
“A tea cup on the edge of a well”
(This popular saying refers to precarious or risky situations.)

HOSOKU NAGAKU
“Lean and long”
(A frugal way of life generates longevity.)

UMOREGI NI HANA GA SAKU
“Fossil wood will sometimes bear flowers.”
(Old people living in obscurity can produce worthwhile things.)

BAKA NO O-GUI
“The big appetite of a fool”
(An epithet applied to someone intemperate in eating)

HE WO HITTE SHIRI TSUBOME
“To close the anus after breaking wind”
(Assuming a look of innocence after committing any indiscretion)

SHIRI NO KE MADE NUKARERU
“Having even the hairs of the anus pulled out”
(To be bilked financially and fleeced of everything)

SARU NO SHIRI WARAI
“Monkeys laugh at buttocks [often bright red] of other monkeys.”
(People sometimes ridicule a trait also possessed by themselves.)

SHOJIN IKARI YASUSHI
“Little men get angry easily.”
(Self-control charcterizes “bigger men” in trying circumstances.)

SUKU MICHI YORI YABURU
“The road that is preferred leads to destruction.”
(Our preferences for easy and delightful things can bring ruin.)

TAI-IN WA ICHI NI KAKURU
“A great retired person lives hid in the market.”
(Though a hermit may lead a pious life in a remote place, another wise person can lead a disciplined life in urban surroundings.)

TARU WO SHIRAZARU MONO WA MAZUSHII
“He who knows not when he has enough is poor.”
(True wealth is contentment without excess or luxury.)

AKUYU WA NASHI NI SHIKAZU
“A bad friend isn’t any better than no friend.”
(Solitude is preferable to bad company.)

SHI WA YASUKU, SEI WA KATASHI
“To die is easy, to live is hard.”
(Self-respect is greater than allegiance to worthless causes.)

TOKU WA SHIRU NI YORAZU OKONO NI ARI
“Virtue is not knowing but doing.”
(Knowledge of what is right has less merit than right action.)

MINU GA HANA
“Not-to-see is a flower.”
(Kindly overlook certain things rather than commenting on them.)

SUGITARU WA OYOBAZARU NI SHIKAZU
“Too much is worse than too little.”

ONORE NI HOSSEZARU TOKORO WO HITO NI HODOKOSU NAKARE
“What you do not wish done to you, do not to others.”
(This maxim came from the Chinese sage Confucius and is a negative construction of The Golden Rule uttered by Jesus five centuries later in the Middle East.)

ITOYA NO JISHIN
“An earthquake in a thread shop”
(Any condition of great entanglement or disarray or confusion)

MAYOWANU MONO NI SATORI NASHI
“To one who does not wander, there is no enlightenment.”
(Buddhist encouragement of individual spiritual exploration)

TSUKIYO NI KOME NO MESHI
“Moonlight and boiled rice”
(One never tires of eating a simple meal in view of nature.)

UNDEI NO SA
“The difference between clouds and mud”
(An expression used to indicate an extreme contrast in value)

KICHIGAI GA HACHI NI SASARETA YO
“Like a madman stung by a hornet”
(The tremendous uproar of a person displaying wild excitement)

TEN NI NOBORU KOKOCHI
“The feeling of ascending to heaven”
(To be transported with joy)

O-KAZE NO ATO NO YO
“As after a great windstorm”
(A sudden stillness after a terrible quarrel or commotion, such as the quiet calm following a typhoon or earthquake)