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Intermediate Japanese - Free Online Course
I NO NAKA NO KAWAZU
井の中の蛙
"a frog in the well"
The phrase i no naka no kawazu is part of a proverb: i no naka no kawazu, taikai o shirazu 井の中の蛙、大海を知らず (“the frog in the well doesn’t know the sea”). The idea here is that a person who stays in a single environment will never gain a wider perspective of the world.
Although Japan was closed to the outside world for 250 years under Tokugawa shogunate rule, modern Japanese are very attentive to international events and foreign cultures. Large numbers of Japanese travel to foreign countries for pleasure; and many hope for the opportunity to work or study abroad.
