AGE: 49

Date_of_performance: February 21, 2025

Language: Japanese

Nationality: Japanese

Occupation: Banker

Primary Language: Japanese

Residence: New York

Context: “If dust piles up it becomes a mountain”. E heard this phrase growing up in Japan from her parents and she incorporates it into her day-to-day life today. She interprets it as small things add up to a great result. She gave me the example of happiness, and how being thankful for small things everyday leads to overall happiness in one’s life

Text: 

Interviewer is I. Subject is Eri, E.

I: So what kind of Japanese proverbs do you know of or like?

E: There’s a lot of them I like but one of my favorites is the phrase, “if dust piles up it becomes a mountain”.

I: What does that mean?

E: It means that doing small things will add up to a great result. If you study a language for an hour a day, eventually you will be able to understand a lot of it.

I: I see, so something as small as dust can become a mountain if there is a lot of it. How do you relate this proverb in your day-to-day life?

E: I use it for happiness. I think about small things I’m thankful for everyday. And that makes me very happy overall, it adds to my happiness.

Analysis:

Thinking deeper about this, I think this proverb fits in with Japanese culture. Japanese people have always been hard-working, although there is a sense that they work themselves a little too much. The idea of doing something little by little to make a profound change could be incorporated into how Japanese people view work. Personally, I want to apply this to life with going to the gym. Although results are not immediate, being disciplined and going to the gym often can result in great benefits.