一寸先は闇

Kanji in this term 一 寸 先 闇 いち > いっ Grade: 1 すん Grade: 6 さき Grade: 1 やみ Grade: S Etymology edit 一いっ寸すん (issun, “Japanese classical unit of length equivalent approximately 3.03 cm”) + 先さき (saki, “ahead”) + は (ha, topic marker) + 闇やみ (yami, “dark”), literally ahead of a bit is dark.

Pronunciation edit IPA(key): [isːɨɰ̃ sa̠kʲi β̞a̠ ja̠mʲi] Proverb edit 一いっ寸すん先さきは闇やみ • (issun saki wa yami)

unpredictable; no one knows what the future holds. References edit “一寸先は闇”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025