How to Read “Crows are black everywhere”
doko no karasu mo kuroi
Meaning of “Crows are black everywhere”
“Crows are black everywhere” means that bad people and bad things are the same no matter where you go. Even when places and environments change, the essential nature of human flaws and wrongdoing remains unchanged.
This proverb is used when you move to a new environment with high hopes, only to face the same kinds of problems and injustices.
For example, you might say “I quit my company and changed jobs, but crows are black everywhere” when you realize that changing locations doesn’t change the fundamental nature of problems.
The saying is also used when discussing common bad habits in society or human weaknesses.
It points out the universal aspect of human society: similar wrongdoings and injustices exist in every region, every organization, and every era.
This proverb contains a certain sense of acceptance. Even when you pursue ideals, there is no perfect place in reality.
Origin and Etymology
No clear written records remain about the origin of this proverb. However, we can make interesting observations from how the phrase is constructed.
Crows are familiar birds that live throughout Japan. They have lived near human settlements since ancient times, and everyone knows their jet-black appearance.
From Hokkaido to Okinawa, crows are black in every region. This obvious fact is thought to form the foundation of this proverb.
An interesting question is why crows were chosen as an example of “bad things.”
In Japanese culture, crows were not always negative symbols. They were sometimes considered messengers of gods, and the three-legged crow was even viewed as sacred.
However, their black color, habit of eating carrion, and loud cries gave them an ominous image among common people.
This proverb probably emerged among ordinary people during or after the Edo period.
People traveled and visited various places, only to witness the same kinds of wrongdoing and injustice everywhere.
They overlapped this universality with crows, which exist everywhere and are always the same black color.
The expression contains a kind of resignation and insight: the essence doesn’t change even when the place does.
Interesting Facts
Crows are actually known as highly intelligent birds. They can use tools to get food, identify and remember human faces, and cooperate with others to solve problems.
Because of their intelligence, they skillfully survive in human living areas and sometimes outsmart humans.
The choice of crows for this proverb may include a sense of awe toward their cleverness and cunning.
Japanese has many proverbs and idioms using crows, such as “karasu no gyōzui” (crow’s quick bath) and “karasu no nurebeiro” (crow’s glossy wet-feather color).
This proves how closely crows have been connected to Japanese life and how much they have been observed.
Because they are such familiar creatures, they were chosen as metaphors for expressing truths about human society.
Usage Examples
- I had high hopes for that politician, but corruption again? I guess crows are black everywhere.
- My new company is also full of factional fighting. I painfully realized that crows are black everywhere.
Universal Wisdom
The proverb “Crows are black everywhere” contains deep insights from ancestors who observed human society for a long time.
It represents a harsh recognition of reality: even if you travel seeking an ideal place, no perfect society exists.
Humans are creatures of hope. When problems exist where we are, we want to believe better environments exist elsewhere.
However, looking back at history, negative aspects of humanity have existed in every era and region. These include human desire, jealousy, laziness, and injustice.
This is because they are essential parts of what it means to be human.
This proverb has been passed down not from simple pessimism, but to teach the importance of having courage to face reality.
Rather than continuing to search for a perfect place, we should think about how to live within imperfect reality. True maturity lies there.
At the same time, this proverb serves as a warning to ourselves.
Before pointing out the evil in others or other places, we should recognize the same weaknesses within ourselves with humility.
Just as crows are black everywhere, we too are imperfect humans. This universal understanding of humanity is the deep wisdom this proverb holds.
When AI Hears This
From an information theory perspective, this proverb achieves surprisingly efficient data compression.
If we recorded individually “Tokyo crows are black, Osaka crows are black, London crows are black,” the information would increase with each location.
With 10,000 locations, we would need 10,000 pieces of data. However, “Crows are black everywhere” compresses these infinite individual cases into just seven characters.
This compression is possible because we discovered the regularity of patterns existing in the world.
In information theory, predictable parts have high redundancy and can be compressed. Just as ZIP files can express “AAAAAAA” as “seven As,” we generalized the highly predictable feature of crow color.
Interestingly, this compression always carries risk. If white crows existed, the compression algorithm would fail.
Albino crows do rarely exist. However, humanity chose “compression that is correct over 99.9 percent of the time.”
This is because saving memory capacity with simple rules was more advantageous for survival than maintaining massive individual data for rare exceptions.
Proverbs are compressed formats of experiential knowledge that humanity has optimized over thousands of years.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people that developing your own perspective and adaptability is more important than changing external environments.
Job changes, moving, resetting relationships—these are sometimes necessary, but they alone may not provide fundamental solutions.
What matters is how you act within imperfect reality.
If similar problems exist everywhere, the skills of how you face and handle those problems will enrich your life.
Rather than waiting for perfect environments, do your best in your current environment. That attitude will ultimately help you grow.
At the same time, this proverb teaches tolerance toward others.
Problems existing everywhere means no perfect person or organization exists.
Before blaming others’ faults, remember that you are also human. That humility becomes the first step toward building better relationships.
Accept reality while still finding hope within it. That is the mature way of living this proverb shows us.
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