SF was born in Tokyo, Japan, and lived there for 10 years. She is a student at USC majoring in Business Administration. SF is in my Introduction to Music Technology class and she had a ton of Japanese folklore to share with me.

Proverb: 猿も木から落ちる

Pronunciation: saru mo ki kara ochiru

Literal Translation: Even a monkey falls from a tree

Meaning: It means nobody’s perfect, and that everybody makes mistakes.

My informant learned this proverb in Japanese class.

I found this proverb interesting because there are many variations of it from different cultures. With this proverb it recognizes the universal fallibility in humans. Even in cultures that highly prize expertise and perfection, there is still an acknowledgement of some sort of the phrase “we are all human.”