Japanese Proverbs

A collection of Japanese Proverbs full of words of wisdom. You will find proverbs and sayings that have originated in Japan

A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle.
Japanese Proverb

Darkness reigns at the foot of the lighthouse.
Japanese Proverb

Art is the illusion of spontaneity.
Japanese Proverb

Let what is past flow away downstream.
Japanese Proverb

Adversity is the foundation of virtue.
Japanese Proverb

You can know ten things by learning one.
Japanese Proverb

Ten men, ten minds.
Japanese Proverb

When you’re thirsty it’s too late to think about digging a well.
Japanese Proverb

Fall down seven times, get up eight.
Japanese Proverb

Gossip about a person and his shadow will appear.
Japanese Proverb

There are no national frontiers to learning.
Japanese Proverb

Everyone makes mistakes. That’s why there is an eraser on every pencil.
Japanese Proverb

When the character of a man is not clear to you,look at his friends.
Japanese Proverb

Better to be a crystal and to be broken, than to be a tile upon the housetop.
Japanese Proverb

One kind word can warm three winter months.
Japanese Proverb

A round egg can be made square according to how you cut it; words would be harsh according to how you speak them.
Japanese Proverb

If you wait, there will come nectar – like fair weather.
Japanese Proverb

Wisdom and virtue are like the two wheels of a cart.
Japanese Proverb

The reverse side also has a reverse side.
Japanese Proverb

Proof rather than argument.
Japanese Proverb

Time flies like an arrow. Japanese Proverb
Time flies like an arrow.
Japanese Proverb

Life is for one generation; a good name is forever.
Japanese Proverb

An ant hole may collapse an embankment.
Japanese Proverb

Respect old people, and be gentle with children.
Japanese Proverb

Books are preserved minds.
Japanese Proverb

You can’t see the whole sky through a bamboo tube.
Japanese Proverb

When someone is really hungry, then there is no such thing as “bad food.”
Japanese Proverb

It is better to not read at all than to believe everything you read.
Japanese Proverb

Cold tea and cold rice are tolerable; cold looks and cold words aren’t.
Japanese Proverb

Truth often comes out of a joke.
Japanese Proverb

It is better to write down something once than read it ten times.
Japanese Proverb

To know and to act are one and the same.
Japanese Proverb