B6 Proverbs

Show Notes for bonus episode 6 of our Podcast – Proverbs.

Story Notes

There are many proverbs throughout Japan and so we wanted to introduce you to a few of them.

釈迦に説法 
しゃかにせっぽう 
Translation: Teaching Buddhism to the Buddah. 
Trying to explain things to someone who knows more than you.  

花より団子 
Hana yori dango
Dango over flowers – 
Utility is more useful than beauty 

ない袖は振れぬ
Naisodewa furenu
You can’t shake an empty sleeve 
The sleeve of the kimono was used to store money. This saying is equivalent to “you can’t get blood from a turnip” 

知らぬが仏。 
Shiranu ga hotoke. 
Not knowing is Buddha. 
Ignorance is bliss. / What you don’t know can’t hurt you. 

七転び八起き 
Nanakorobi yaoki 
Fall seven times and stand up eight
When life knocks you down, stand back up; What matters is not the bad that happened, but what one does after. 

老いたるを父とせよ
Oitaru wo, chichi to se-yo
That which is old should be treated with the respect due a father.

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_proverbs
• https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Japanese_proverbs
• http://nihonshock.com/2009/10/japanese-proverbs-september-2009/
• Porter, W.N. (1981) ”The Tosa Diary by Ki no Tsurayuki”. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing. 

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