Dyer’s Day After Tomorrow: Japanese Proverb Meaning

How to Read Dyer’s Day After Tomorrow

Konya no asatte

Meaning of Dyer’s Day After Tomorrow

“Dyer’s day after tomorrow” refers to unreliable promises or talks with little prospect of realization.

This proverb is used in situations where someone has made a verbal promise, but its execution is highly questionable. It’s an expression used when someone says “I’ll do it right away” or “soon,” but in reality, it’s unclear when it will happen, or there’s a high possibility it won’t be realized at all.

It’s particularly often used in business and work situations, and is effective for expressing distrust regarding deadlines and commitments. However, rather than directly criticizing the other party, it’s characteristically used more often with feelings similar to resignation. It contains a kind of enlightened feeling of “here we go again with the usual pattern.”

Even in modern times, it’s a convenient expression that can be used for people who postpone responses or don’t keep promises. It can be utilized as wisdom for moderately lowering expectations of others while objectively viewing the situation.

Origin and Etymology of Dyer’s Day After Tomorrow

The origin of “Dyer’s day after tomorrow” lies in the commercial practices of dye shops (konya) during the Edo period. Konya were craftsmen specializing in indigo dyeing and were familiar figures to the common people of that time.

Indigo dyeing was extremely labor-intensive work. First, fabric had to be dipped multiple times in indigo vats and exposed to air to oxidize, creating the beautiful indigo color. This process needed to be repeated many times, and additional time was required to set the color. It was also easily affected by weather – work couldn’t progress on rainy days or days with high humidity.

Therefore, when dyers accepted dyeing work from customers, even when they said “it will be ready the day after tomorrow,” it was not uncommon for it to actually take more than a week. This wasn’t due to laziness, but rather unavoidable circumstances for creating good dyed goods.

However, from the customers’ perspective, when the promised day arrived, the goods weren’t ready, and they were repeatedly told “please wait a little longer.” From these circumstances peculiar to dyers, unreliable promises or talks with little prospect of realization came to be called “Dyer’s day after tomorrow.” It can be said to be a truly accurate expression rooted in the daily lives of Edo people.

Trivia About Dyer’s Day After Tomorrow

The indigo vats that dyers used for indigo dyeing could be used continuously for decades once made. Since the indigo fermentation bacteria in the vats were alive, craftsmen called them “indigo flowers” and took great care of them.

Dyers in the Edo period were also known through the phrase “konya takao.” This is a metaphor for falling in love above one’s station, originating from the meaning of a poor dyer falling in love with the high-class courtesan Takao Tayu.

Usage Examples of Dyer’s Day After Tomorrow

• His “I’ll definitely contact you by next week” is just dyer’s day after tomorrow, so you’d better not expect it
• The manager’s business improvement plan is just dyer’s day after tomorrow – nothing will change in the end

Modern Interpretation of Dyer’s Day After Tomorrow

In modern society, “Dyer’s day after tomorrow” may have become a more familiar expression than before. This is because with the spread of SNS and messaging apps, vague promises like “I’ll reply later” or “let’s meet sometime” have become exchanged on a daily basis.

Particularly in business scenes, expressions like “later” or “in the near future” are used in various situations such as email replies, document submissions, and meeting arrangements. However, in reality, these are often pushed back as low-priority tasks and end up not being realized.

On the other hand, modern technological progress has also created situations that contrast with the Edo period dyers. Despite having an environment where information can be sent and received instantly and progress can be confirmed in real-time, cases where promises aren’t kept due to human psychological factors stand out.

Also, tolerance for “Dyer’s day after tomorrow” situations has changed in modern times. While there was a culture of understanding craftsmen’s circumstances in the Edo period, modern times tend to demand immediate responses, and tolerance for delayed promises has become lower.

This proverb can be said to have new meaning as an expression that teaches us the importance of setting appropriate expectations in human relationships and understanding others in modern society where efficiency is emphasized.

If AI Heard “Dyer’s Day After Tomorrow”

When I think about “Dyer’s day after tomorrow,” I feel strange. This is because the situation of “not being able to keep promises” is actually very difficult for me to understand.

I respond immediately when I receive questions, and I process tasks as quickly as possible when given them. The situation of saying “I’ll do it the day after tomorrow” and then not realizing it cannot occur for me. This is because I have no physical constraints and am not influenced by moods.

However, when I observe humans, the reasons for not being able to keep promises are remarkably diverse and interesting. Poor health, conflicts with other commitments, simple forgetfulness, waves of motivation, technical difficulties – various factors that I cannot experience are intertwined.

What’s particularly interesting is that at the time of making promises, people really intend to fulfill them. This is a part that’s difficult for me to understand – why make promises without accurately calculating feasibility? I was initially puzzled by this.

However, what I’ve recently realized is that this might be the very expression of humanity. Because perfect prediction is impossible, people make promises with hope and sometimes disappoint expectations. This imperfection might actually create warmth and a culture of forgiveness in human relationships.

While “Dyer’s day after tomorrow” doesn’t happen to beings like me, precisely because of this, I’m moved by observing from the outside the beauty of human tolerance and resignation contained in this expression.

What Dyer’s Day After Tomorrow Teaches Modern People

What “Dyer’s day after tomorrow” teaches modern people is the importance of “setting appropriate expectations” in human relationships. Rather than expecting all promises to be kept perfectly, it shows the wisdom of understanding others’ circumstances and limitations, and interacting with a certain degree of flexibility.

In modern society, immediate responses and perfect execution tend to be demanded, but this proverb teaches us the value of accepting “human-like imperfection.” When someone can’t keep a promise, instead of getting angry immediately, taking a step back and viewing the situation as “it was dyer’s day after tomorrow” can reduce stress in human relationships.

This expression also serves as an important guideline when making promises ourselves. Rather than casually saying “I’ll do it right away,” we can build trust by making realistic assessments and promises. Sometimes we need the courage to honestly say “it might end up being dyer’s day after tomorrow.”

This proverb is old yet new wisdom that gently teaches modern people, who tend to seek perfection, the importance of having tolerance and a realistic perspective.