How to Read “When joy ends, sorrow comes”
たのしみつきてかなしみきたる
Meaning of “When joy ends, sorrow comes”
This proverb expresses the natural flow of human emotions. When happy times end, sadness arrives.
After spending joyful moments, those moments eventually come to an end. The greater the joy was, the deeper the loneliness and emptiness feel afterward.
This describes emotions everyone experiences. The letdown after returning from a trip. The emptiness after a fun event ends. The loneliness after parting from friends you spent quality time with.
People use this proverb to express sympathy for the sadness after happy times. It also reminds us that all joyful moments must eventually end.
Even today, people understand this phrase as expressing the sentimental feelings that come after fulfilling experiences.
Origin and Etymology
The exact source of this proverb is unclear. However, its structure suggests influence from Buddhist thought and Chinese classics.
The expression “when joy ends” contains the concept of impermanence. All things must eventually end. This connects to the Buddhist idea of “shogyō mujō” (all things are impermanent).
Chinese classics contain a similar expression: “When pleasure reaches its peak, sorrow comes.” This may have traveled to Japan and evolved over time.
In yin-yang philosophy, things constantly alternate between yin and yang. When joy (yang) reaches its peak, sorrow (yin) must inevitably arrive.
Records from the Edo period show common people used this phrase. They expressed the loneliness after festivals or the emptiness after banquets ended.
People knew from experience that sadness or dissatisfaction always follows happy times. This proverb accurately captures this shift in human emotions.
That’s why it has been passed down through generations.
Usage Examples
- When the school trip ended and I got home, “when joy ends, sorrow comes” – I suddenly felt so lonely
- The day after the summer festival ended, it was exactly “when joy ends, sorrow comes” – I felt like there was a hole in my heart
Universal Wisdom
This proverb has been passed down because it captures a truth. Human emotions are never constant. They always fluctuate.
We wish happy things would last forever. But in reality, all joy has an ending. Strangely, the happier we are, the deeper the loneliness feels afterward.
This happens because the human heart perceives things through contrast. After bright light, shadows appear darker. After climbing high, we feel the drop more sharply.
After great joy, the fact that this joy is no longer in our hands becomes more vividly etched in our hearts.
However, this proverb is not simply pessimistic. Rather, it teaches us how precious and irreplaceable happy times are.
Because there is an ending, we develop the desire to cherish this present moment of happiness. Our ancestors embedded this wisdom in the proverb.
They taught the importance of living while accepting emotional waves. Knowing that sorrow will come, we still seek joy and keep living.
Perhaps that is what makes us human.
When AI Hears This
When the brain feels pleasure, it releases a substance called dopamine. But when strong pleasure continues, the brain reduces the number of receptors as self-defense.
This is called downregulation. Imagine receptors decreasing from 100 to 70, then to 50. The same stimulus no longer satisfies us. We start seeking stronger stimulation.
More interesting is that the brain constantly compares “prediction” with “reality.” At the peak of joy, the brain predicts “this pleasure will continue forever.”
But in reality, pleasure ends. At this moment, the reward prediction error swings sharply negative in the brain.
The expected reward doesn’t just become zero. It gets processed as a negative reward.
Research shows that when dopamine neuron firing rates drop below baseline, this itself becomes a signal for discomfort and sadness.
Sadness is not simply the absence of pleasure. The brain actively generates it as an emotion.
The higher the peak of joy, the greater the drop afterward. Sadness emerges as a neurochemical rebound.
This proverb accurately identified this mathematical property of the brain’s reward system through experiential wisdom.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people the wisdom of accepting emotional waves as natural. Feeling loneliness after happy times is not abnormal at all.
It is a normal flow of human emotion.
What matters is not avoiding joy because we fear the sadness of endings. Instead, we should fully savor the happiness of this present moment, knowing that sadness will come.
Because there is an ending, the present moment shines. Time with friends. Family gatherings. Hours absorbed in hobbies.
Knowing these moments aren’t eternal helps us treasure each one, doesn’t it?
Also, the sadness that arrives after joy serves as a bridge to the next joy. Feeling loneliness proves we spent wonderful time.
Holding that memory in our hearts, we find new joys. This is how life becomes richer.
Let’s ride the waves of emotion and keep moving forward.
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