Idioms
Japanese fixed expressions — yojijukugo (四字熟語), kanyōku (慣用句), and kotowaza (諺). Each entry shows the literal kanji reading next to the figurative meaning.
75 idioms
Tier 0 · most common (13)
時は金なり
諺
Time is money
石の上にも三年
諺
Three years on a stone
百聞は一見にしかず
諺
A hundred hearings are not equal to one seeing
急がば回れ
諺
If you are in a hurry, go the long way around
案ずるより産むが易し
諺
Giving birth is easier than worrying about it
口は災いの元
諺
the mouth is the source of disaster
良薬は口に苦し
諺
good medicine is bitter to the mouth
雨降って地固まる
諺
rain falls and the ground hardens
郷に入っては郷に従え
諺
entering the village, obey the village
猿も木から落ちる
諺
Even monkeys fall from trees
覆水盆に返らず
諺
spilled water does not return to the tray
井の中の蛙、大海を知らず
諺
the frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean
出る杭は打たれる
諺
The nail that sticks out gets hammered down
Tier 1 · common (32)
二度あることは三度ある
諺
What happens twice will happen three times
人のふり見てわがふり直せ
諺
Watch others' behavior and correct your own
歳月人を待たず
諺
Time and tide wait for no man
好きこそものの上手なれ
諺
Liking something is the best way to become skillful at it
病は気から
諺
Illness comes from the spirit (Qi)
継続は力なり
諺
Continuity is power
残り物には福がある
諺
There is luck in leftovers
損して得取れ
諺
Lose now to gain later
仏の顔も三度
諺
Even the Buddha's face, (only) three times
早起きは三文の徳
諺
Early rising is worth three mon (pennies)
後悔先に立たず
諺
Regret does not stand first
果報は寝て待て
諺
Wait for good news while sleeping
安物買いの銭失い
諺
Buying cheap, losing money
笑う門には福来る
諺
Fortune comes to the laughing gate
失敗は成功のもと
諺
Failure is the foundation of success
知らぬが仏
諺
Not knowing is Buddha
火のない所に煙は立たぬ
諺
Smoke does not rise where there is no fire
善は急げ
諺
Be quick to do good
渡る世間に鬼はない
諺
There are no demons in the world we walk through
河童の川流れ
諺
A kappa getting carried away by the river
灯台下暗し
諺
It is darkest under the lighthouse
亀の甲より年の功
諺
Years of experience are worth more than a turtle's shell
朱に交われば赤くなる
諺
If you mix with vermilion, you become red
犬も歩けば棒に当たる
諺
Even a dog walking hits a stick
一寸先は闇
諺
One inch ahead is darkness
光陰矢のごとし
諺
Time is like an arrow
二兎を追う者は一兎をも得ず
諺
He who chases two hares catches neither
勝って兜の緒を締めよ
諺
Tighten your helmet strings after winning
網呑舟の魚を漏らす
諺
The net lets the fish that can swallow a boat escape
嘘つきは泥棒の始まり
諺
A liar is the beginning of a thief
嘘も方便
諺
Even a lie is a means (expedient)
蛙の子は蛙
諺
A frog's child is a frog
Tier 2 · intermediate (30)
人は見かけによらぬもの
諺
people are a thing not going by appearances
人はパンのみにて生くるにあらず
諺
man does not live by bread alone
明日という日もある
諺
there is also a day called tomorrow
上には上がある
諺
above there is always something higher
上には上がいる
諺
above there is always someone higher still
人生は一度きり
諺
life is only a single time
人生一度きり
諺
a life comes around only once
大事の前の小事
諺
a small matter before an important matter
小事は大事
諺
a small matter is an important matter
ローマは一日にして成らず
諺
Rome was not built in a single day
金が金を生む
諺
money gives birth to yet more money
明日の百より今日の五十
諺
today's fifty, more than tomorrow's hundred
六十の三つ子
諺
sixty years old, a child of three
あちら立てればこちらが立たぬ
諺
raise that side, and this side cannot stand
タダより高いものはない
諺
nothing is more expensive than free
人は見目よりただ心
諺
people are just heart, more than looks
子で子にならぬほととぎす
諺
a cuckoo: a child, yet becomes no child
合うも不思議、合わぬも不思議
諺
a hit is a wonder, a miss a wonder
あの世千日この世一日
諺
the afterlife a thousand days, this world one day
言わぬは言うにまさる
諺
not saying a word surpasses saying one
見目より心
諺
the heart more than outward looks
時が解決する
諺
time is what resolves all things
人間万事金の世の中
諺
humans and all things, a world of money
一点一画もおろそかにしない
諺
not neglecting even one dot or one stroke
体が資本
諺
one's own body is the capital
後は野となれ山となれ
諺
let what follows become field or mountain
先んずれば人を制す
諺
go first, and you control others
人生意気に感ず
諺
human life is moved by spirit
文は人なり
諺
the writing is the person
先のことは分からない
諺
what lies ahead cannot be known