A Japanese proverb (諺, ことわざ, kotowaza?) may take the form of:
- a short saying (言い習わし iinarawashi),
- an idiomatic phrase (慣用句 kan'yōku), or
- a four-character idiom (四字熟語 yojijukugo).
Although "proverb" and "saying" are practically synonymous, the same cannot be said about "idiomatic phrase" and "four-character idiom". Not all kan'yōku and yojijukugo are proverbial. For instance, the kan'yōku 狐の嫁入り kitsune no yomeiri (Literally: a fox's wedding. Meaning: a sun-shower) and the yojijukugo 小春日和 koharubiyori (Literally: small spring weather. Meaning: Indian summer – warm spring-like weather in early winter) are not proverbs. To be considered a proverb, a word or phrase must express a common truth or wisdom; it cannot be a mere noun.
Famous quotes containing the words japanese and/or proverbs:
“A pragmatic race, the Japanese appear to have decided long ago that the only reason for drinking alcohol is to become intoxicated and therefore drink only when they wish to be drunk.
So I went out into the night and the neon and let the crowd pull me along, walking blind, willing myself to be just a segment of that mass organism, just one more drifting chip of consciousness under the geodesics.”
—William Gibson (b. 1948)
“...in vain is the net baited while the bird is looking on...”
—Bible: Hebrew, Proverbs 1:17.