Yojijukugo
Japanese meaning of 因果応報
Reading:
Voice sample:
いんがおうほう (inga ouhou)
English Translation:
What goes around comes around
Meaning & Cultural Context
Meaning:
Every action inevitably leads to a result, and people are bound to receive outcomes that match their deeds, whether positive or negative. This idea is often linked to concepts of justice or fate.
日本語で読む
人が行った善悪の行為には、必ずそれに見合った報いや結果が生じるということ。努力には成功や評価が、悪事には罰がもたらされるなど、原因と結果の必然性を説く考え方です。
Cultural Context:
Closely tied to Buddhist karma, it is deeply ingrained in Japanese moral culture and often cited in proverbs, legal rhetoric, and interpersonal judgments. Western equivalents include “what goes around comes around.”
日本語で読む
仏教の業や因果の思想と強く結びつき、日本の道徳観に深く根付いている。ことわざ、法律用語、日常の価値判断などでも用いられ、英語の "what goes around comes around" に近い。
Grammar & Learning Points
Grammar Point
The phrase uses a circular structure—what “goes around” will “come around.” The focus is on inevitable results rather than on who is involved.
日本語で読む
what goes around comes around は循環構造を持つ表現で、主語を特定せず、必ず結果が戻ってくるというニュアンスです。
Trap for English Speakers
Avoid confusing this with physical movement; it refers to consequences in life or society, not to actual objects moving in a circle.
日本語で読む
実際に物が回るという意味ではなく、道徳的・社会的な因果関係を指します。直訳しないよう注意が必要です。
Example
Example 1Basic Example
悪いことをすれば必ず因果応報がある。
If you do bad things, what goes around comes around.
Example 2Applied Example
かつての裏切りが、今になって牙を剥いた。因果応報からは逃れられない。
A past betrayal came back to bite him — there’s no escaping what goes around comes around.
Quick check
Meaning
What does 「因果応報」 mean?