KANAE
056Japanese proverb ことわざ

子は鎹

Ko wa kasugai

“A child is the clamp of the home.”

Word for wordA child is a carpenter's cramp.

The meaning

Like the iron cramp holding two beams, a child binds those who raise them, and gives the home a reason to hold together.

At the origin

The kasugai is a carpenter's clamp joining two pieces of wood.

The characters

  1. kochild
  2. watopic marker

The complete word-by-word reading, in KANAE.

ParticleMarks the topic: what the sentence is about — “as for…”.

In practice

In tension, remember what binds you, not only what divides you.

Themes

Similar proverbs

Related expressions

See also