為せば成る(なせばなる)、為さねば成らぬ(なさねばならぬ)、何事も(なにごとも)。 成らぬは人の為さぬなりけり(ならぬは ひとの なさぬなりけり)。 Anything can be done, but only if you try. If nothing’s done,...

Ten-seki koque-o shoh-ze-zu. 転石(てんせき)苔(こけ)を生(しょう)ぜず。 Or, Koroga-ru ishi-ni koque tsu-ka-zu. 転がる(ころがる)石(いし)に苔(こけ)つかず。 There’re two...

Inu-mo aru-ke-ba boh-ni a-ta-ru 犬(いぬ)も歩けば(あるけば)棒(ぼう)に当たる(あたる)。 This popular proverb has two conflicting meanings. The meanings depend on...

To be the number one is always difficult in anything, but ‘1’ in the report card would not be desirable. Ichi-ka bachi-ka 一か八か(いちかばちか)...

What this proverb 諺(ことわざ) means to say is to praise silence rather than speech or eloquence. I wonder if Europeans and Americans agree on...

They say a woman’s mind—especially loving mind toward a man—is changeable like a fall sky. A fall or autumn is, in Japan, maybe...

This may be one of the most famous phrases which the Japanese people have ever known in English. The Japanese version see-nen-yo,...

This phase is from a poem of the great Chinese poet, 李(り)白(はく) Li Bai (701-762 A.D.). The literal translation is: an eastern breeze to a...

Buta 豚(ぶた) is: English: pig, hog Spanish: cerdo Tagalog: baboy 豚(ぶた)が豚(ぶた)をぶったら、ぶたれた豚(ぶた)がぶった豚(ぶた)をぶったので、ぶった豚(ぶた)とぶたれた豚(ぶた)がぶっ倒れた(ぶったおれた)...

This proverb/metaphor is to mean ‘wasting one's efforts; rendering one's efforts futile.’ You know that Japanese people like to take a...

Hana-yori dango 花(はな)より団子(だんご) This is a famous proverb, which they say has been used since Muromachi Period (1333-1573). Dango 団子(だんご)...

Ai 藍（あい）color is: English: indigo Spanish: indigo Tagalog: tinang asul Ai 藍 (あい) Ai is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat...