Japanese meaning of 風が吹けば桶屋が儲かる
Reading:
かぜがふけばおけやがもうかる (kaze ga fukeba okeya ga mōkaru)
English Translation:
The law of unintended consequences
Meaning & Cultural Context
Meaning:
An unlikely causal chain creating unexpected winners.
Cultural Context:
Edo-period satirical chain (wind→dust→eye disease→more shamisen→fewer cats→more rats→buckets gnawed→coopers profit); used humorously in media and economics.
思わぬ因果の連鎖で意外なところが得をすること。
江戸期の滑稽な因果連鎖（風→土埃→目病み→三味線増→猫減→鼠増→桶かじり→桶屋儲かる）に由来。メディアや経済の比喩で用いられる。
Grammar & Learning Points
Grammar Point
• 風 (kaze) = “wind” (noun)
• が (ga) = subject marker
• 吹けば (fukeba) = conditional form of 吹く (fuku, “to blow”)
• 桶屋 (okeya) = “coopery/bucket maker” (noun)
• が (ga) = subject marker
• 儲かる (mōkaru) = “to profit” (verb, plain form)
Two conditional clauses linked to show an unexpected causal chain.
Trap for English Speakers
Might be taken as actually describing a comical chain reaction, but it’s about unexpected cause-and-effect links.
Example
Basic Example
小さな出来事が連鎖して大事件になる、まさに風が吹けば桶屋が儲かるだ。
A small event triggered a chain leading to a big incident—just like the law of unintended consequences.
Applied Example
スライム一匹逃したら城が陥落…風が吹けば桶屋が儲かるだな。
Let one slime escape and the castle falls… the law of unintended consequences.