VocabularyJapanese Proverbs: 50 Kotowaza with Meanings and Usage
March 23, 202618 min read
Japanese proverbs — ことわざ (kotowaza) — pack centuries of cultural wisdom into a single phrase. They appear in everyday conversation, business speeches, school essays, and JLPT reading passages. Unlike English proverbs, many Japanese ことわざ draw on nature imagery (frogs, tigers, cherry blossoms, rivers) and reflect values like perseverance, humility, and social harmony.
This reference covers 50 essential ことわざ organized by theme. Each entry includes the full Japanese text, reading, literal translation, real meaning, and the context where you would actually use it.
Perseverance
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 七転び八起き | ななころびやおき | Fall seven times, stand up eight | Never give up no matter how many times you fail |
| 石の上にも三年 | いしのうえにもさんねん | Three years sitting on a stone | Patience and persistence pay off |
| 継続は力なり | けいぞくはちからなり | Continuation is power | Persistence leads to success |
| 失敗は成功のもと | しっぱいはせいこうのもと | Failure is the origin of success | You learn from your mistakes |
| 千里の道も一歩から | せんりのみちもいっぽから | A thousand-mile journey starts with one step | Every big achievement begins with a small action |
Wisdom
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 井の中の蛙 | いのなかのかわず | A frog in a well | Someone with a narrow worldview who doesn’t know the bigger picture |
| 猛虎に翼 | もうこにつばさ | Wings on a fierce tiger | Adding strength to something already powerful — making a dangerous situation worse |
| 花より団子 | はなよりだんご | Dumplings over flowers | Substance over beauty; practicality over aesthetics |
| 飛ぶ鳥を落とす | とぶとりをおとす | To knock down a flying bird | To be at the peak of one’s power and influence |
| 知らぬが仏 | しらぬがほとけ | Not knowing is Buddha | Ignorance is bliss |
Hardship
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 雨降って地固まる | あめふってじかたまる | After rain, the ground hardens | Adversity makes you stronger; things improve after hardship |
| 苦あれば楽あり | くあればらくあり | If there is suffering, there is pleasure | Good times follow bad times |
| 七転び八倒れ | ななころびやたおれ | Fall seven times, collapse eight | Life is full of repeated setbacks (variant emphasizing the struggle) |
| 种を㐔かねば花は咲かぬ | たねをまかねばはなはさかぬ | If you don’t sow seeds, flowers won’t bloom | Without effort, there are no results |
Daily Life
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 寝る子は育つ | ねるこはそだつ | A sleeping child grows | Sleep is essential for growth (said about children) |
| 早起きは三文の得 | はやおきはさんもんのとく | Early rising gains three mon (coins) | The early bird catches the worm |
| 腰かければ行かれる | こしかければゆかれる | If you lean forward, you can walk | Just start and momentum will carry you |
| 腰が軽い | こしがかるい | Light hips | Quick to act; someone who gets up and does things readily |
Patience
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 待てば海路の日和 | まてばかいろのひより | Wait and the sea route will be calm | Be patient and conditions will improve |
| 急がば回れ | いそがばまわれ | If in a hurry, go around | Haste makes waste; shortcuts often take longer |
| 亀の甲より年の功 | かめのこうよりとしのこう | The merit of years over the shell of a tortoise | Experience is more valuable than any talisman |
Relationships
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 口は禅いのもと | くちはわざわいのもと | The mouth is the source of disaster | Careless words cause trouble; watch what you say |
| 他人の飯は白く見える | たにんのめしはしろくみえる | Other people’s rice looks white | The grass is always greener on the other side |
| 親しき仲にも礼儀あり | したしきなかにもれいぎあり | Even close friends need etiquette | Maintain politeness even with close relationships |
| 類は友を呼ぶ | るいはともをよぶ | Like calls to like | Birds of a feather flock together |
| 人の振り見て我が振り直せ | ひとのふりみてわがふりなおせ | Watch others’ behavior and fix your own | Learn from others’ mistakes |
Society
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 出る杖は打たれる | でるくいはうたれる | The nail that sticks out gets hammered | Don’t stand out too much; conformity is valued |
| 郷に入っては郷に従え | ごうにいってはごうにしたがえ | Enter a village, follow its customs | When in Rome, do as the Romans do |
| 宮廃りの族はなし | かんだれのぞくはなし | There is no tribe that has fallen from a palace | Even prestigious families can fall from grace |
Futility
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 元の木阿弥 | もとのもくあみ | Back to the original wooden Buddha | Back to square one; all that effort was wasted |
| 糲に釘 | ぬかにくぎ | A nail in rice bran | Pointless effort; like talking to a wall |
| 馬の耳に念仏 | うまのみみにねんぶつ | Buddhist prayer in a horse’s ear | Wasting advice on someone who won’t listen |
Character
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 縁の下の力持ち | えんのしたのちからもち | The strongman under the veranda | An unsung hero; someone who supports others behind the scenes |
| 能ある鷹は爪を隠す | のうあるたかはつめをかくす | A skilled hawk hides its talons | Truly talented people don’t show off |
| 実るほど頭を垂れる稲穂 | みのるほどこうべをたれるいなほ | The more the rice ripens, the more it bows its head | The wiser/more accomplished you become, the humbler you should be |
| 一期一会 | いちごいちえ | One lifetime, one meeting | Treasure every encounter — it may never happen again |
| 情けは人のためならず | なさけはひとのためならず | Compassion is not just for others | Kindness to others ultimately benefits yourself too |
Animals
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 猫に小判 | ねこにこばん | Gold coins to a cat | Pearls before swine; giving something valuable to someone who can’t appreciate it |
| 猿も木から落ちる | さるもきからおちる | Even monkeys fall from trees | Everyone makes mistakes, even experts |
| 魚心あれば水心あり | うおごころあればみずごころあり | If the fish has a mind, the water has a mind too | If one party is interested, the other will respond in kind |
| 虎穴に入らずんば虎子を得ず | こけつにいらずんばこじをえず | If you don’t enter the tiger’s den, you can’t catch the cub | Nothing ventured, nothing gained |
| 犬も歩けば棒に当たる | いぬもあるけばぼうにあたる | Even a dog, if it walks, hits a stick | If you go out and try things, something will happen (good or bad) |
Nature
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 木を見て森を見ず | きをみてもりをみず | See the trees, miss the forest | Missing the big picture by focusing on details |
| 花は桜木人は武士 | はなはさくらぎひとはぶし | Among flowers, cherry blossoms; among people, samurai | The best of the best; cherry blossoms and samurai are the ideal |
| 河童の川流れ | かっぱのかわながれ | A kappa drowning in a river | Even experts fail at what they do best sometimes |
Cooperation
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 三人寄れば文殊の知恵 | さんにんよればもんじゅのちえ | Three people together have the wisdom of Monju (Buddhist deity) | Two heads are better than one; collaboration yields wisdom |
Efficiency
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 一石二鳥 | いっせきにちょう | One stone, two birds | Kill two birds with one stone |
Time
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 光陰矢の如し | こういんやのごとし | Time passes like an arrow | Time flies |
| 後の祭り | あとのまつり | A festival after the fact | Too little too late; doing something after it’s no longer useful |
Balance
| Japanese | Reading | Literal | Meaning |
|---|
| 車の両輪 | くるまのりょうりん | Both wheels of a cart | Two things that are equally important and inseparable |
How to Use Proverbs in Conversation
Here are some natural ways to drop a ことわざ into conversation:
- Encouraging someone: 「七転び八起きだよ！諦めないで」 — "Fall seven, stand eight! Don't give up."
- Advising patience: 「急がば回れっていうでしょ。ゆっくりやろう」 — "You know the saying ‘haste makes waste.’ Let's take it slow."
- Commenting on a mistake: 「猿も木から落ちるってことだね」 — "Even monkeys fall from trees, right?"
- In business writing: 「三人寄れば文殊の知恵と申しますので、皆様のご意見をお聞かせください」 — "As they say, three heads are better than one — please share your opinions."
Common Mistakes with Japanese Proverbs
- ✗ Translating English proverbs literally into Japanese → ✓ Use the Japanese equivalent. "Don't count your chickens" has no direct Japanese version. Use 「捨てる神あれば拾う神あり」 or the contextually appropriate ことわざ.
- ✗ Using proverbs in casual chat with strangers → ✓ Use them with friends or in writing. Dropping a ことわざ unsolicited can sound preachy.
- ✗ Confusing ことわざ with 四字熟語 → 四字熟語 (yojijukugo) are strictly four-kanji compounds. 一石二鳥 is both, but 猿も木から落ちる is only a ことわざ.
Want to practice using proverbs in your own Japanese writing? ZISTICA MOJIIQ's free grammar checker can help you verify that your sentences are grammatically correct and natural-sounding.
For more Japanese vocabulary building, explore our guide to Japanese onomatopoeia or our 50 essential Japanese slang words.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most famous Japanese proverb?
七転び八起き (nana korobi ya oki) — "fall seven times, stand up eight" — is arguably the most internationally recognized Japanese proverb. It embodies the cultural value of perseverance (ganbaru spirit) and is used to encourage someone who has faced repeated setbacks. It appears in calligraphy, business speeches, and motivational contexts across Japan.
What is a kotowaza in Japanese?
ことわざ (諭) is the Japanese word for proverb or saying. Like proverbs in any language, kotowaza are fixed expressions that convey wisdom through metaphor, observation, or cultural values. Many Japanese kotowaza reference nature (water, mountains, frogs, monkeys), seasons, and human relationships. They appear in everyday conversation, speeches, and writing — knowing common kotowaza is a sign of education and cultural literacy.
How many proverbs should I know for JLPT?
JLPT N2 and N1 reading passages occasionally include kotowaza, but the test does not have a dedicated proverb section. For N2, knowing 20–30 common proverbs is helpful for reading comprehension. For N1, familiarity with 50+ proverbs and four-character idioms (四字熟語 / yojijukugo) is recommended, as they appear in essays and formal writing passages.
What is the difference between kotowaza and yojijukugo?
ことわざ (proverbs) are complete sentences or phrases of any length that express a lesson or observation — like "石の上にも三年" (sit on a stone for three years). 四字熟語 (yojijukugo) are exactly four-kanji compound idioms — like "一石二鳥" (one stone, two birds). Some yojijukugo overlap with kotowaza, but yojijukugo are strictly four characters while kotowaza can be any length.