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Japanese Four-Character Idioms

In Japan, there is a traditional kind of idioms called 四字熟語, yojijukugo, four-character idioms. They all consist of four kanji expressions, that either originally has Chinese influences or even are directly taken from Chinese.

You can use them in ordinary sentences, such as "kare wa kakkoyokute atama ga ii. Kekkon suru no wa hontou ni isseki nichou da yo", "He is both handsome and bright, marrying him is truly killing two birds with one stone".

Learn a couple and impress your Japanese friends by using them at well chosen occasions. ;)

Idiom	Pronounciation	Literal translation	Meaning or English counterpart
晴耕雨読	seiko udoku	clear sky, cultivate, rainy, reading	Farm when it's sunny, read when it rains.
十人十色	jūnin toiro	ten persons, ten colors	To each his/her own. / Different strokes for different folks.
悪因悪果	akuin akka	evil cause, evil effect	Sow evil and reap evil.
大同小異	daidō shōi	big similarity, small difference	Similarities outweigh the differences.
一石二鳥	isseki nichō	one stone, two birds	Killing two birds with one stone; Doing 2 things with one action.
雲散霧消	unsan mushō	scattered clouds, disappearing mist	Disappear without a trace.
我田引水	gaden insui	pulling water to your own rice paddy	Doing/speaking about things in a way to benefit yourself.
夏炉冬扇	karo tōsen	Summer heater winter fan	Something which is out of season and therefore rendered useless.
起死回生	kishi kaisei	Wake from death and return to life	To come out of a desperate situation and make a complete return in one sudden burst.

This list of idioms was taken from http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Japanese_proverbs , and is released under GNU Free Documentation License.

Comments (1)

sounds please..
Written by bathaluman, on 26-05-2008 10:23
i hope u also add sound files on this so that i would learn tp pronounce them properly... thanks..