105Japanese proverb ことわざ
風が吹けば桶屋が儲かる
かぜがふけばおけやがもうかるKaze ga fukeba okeya ga mōkaru
“When the wind blows, the bucket maker prospers.”
The meaning
Through a chain of unexpected causes, a distant event ends up touching everyone. The proverb smiles at cascading reasoning — and reminds us everything is more connected than we think.
At the origin
The Edo story chains the wind, the dust, and step by step... bucket sales. It is cited for improbable but real chain effects.
The characters
- 風 kazewind
- が ga(subject)
- 吹けば fukebaif it blows
- 桶屋
- が
- 儲かる
がParticleMarks the subject: the one who does, or what is.
In practice
Facing a distant event, ask what it will change near you.