Proverbs & idioms

Japanese proverbs (ことわざ), four-character idioms (四字熟語), and idioms — from JMdict.

• あの世千日この世一日あのよせんにちこのよいちにちa day in life is better than a thousand days in the afterlife; better one day in this world than a thousand in the next
• あの声で蜥蜴食らうか時鳥あのこえでとかげくらうかほととぎすdon't judge a book by its cover
• ひもじい時にまずい物なしひもじいときにまずいものなしhunger is the best sauce; nothing tastes bad when you're hungry
• ローマは一日にして成らずローマはいちにちにしてならずRome was not built in a day
• 一事が万事いちじがばんじseen it once, seen it all; a single instance indicates what happens all the time; one case gives you an idea of what always happens
• 一富士二鷹三茄子いちふじにたかさんなすびbest is Fuji, second is a hawk, third is an eggplant (of auspicious things to see in a dream, esp. one's first dream of the year)