How to Read “Nowhere you go will you find a river flowing with licorice”
Doko e ittemo kanzō no nagareru kawa wa nai
Meaning of “Nowhere you go will you find a river flowing with licorice”
This proverb teaches a truth about life: no matter where you go, you cannot escape similar problems and hardships.
When people feel unhappy with their current situation, they often think, “Things will be better somewhere else.” But in reality, even if you change locations, problems always exist.
Difficult relationships, challenging work, and daily inconveniences follow you everywhere. This proverb expresses this reality through the image of an ideal paradise that doesn’t exist.
Today, people often use this saying when considering a job change or moving. It warns against the psychology of “the grass is always greener on the other side.”
The proverb reminds us to appreciate what we have now. Since no perfect environment exists, we should focus on making the best of our current situation.
This is practical wisdom about working with what you have rather than endlessly searching for something better.
Origin and Etymology
No clear historical records explain the exact origin of this proverb. However, we can understand its meaning by examining its components.
“Kanzō” (licorice) is a plant used in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine. Its root has a strong sweet taste.
People have treasured it for centuries, not just for its medicinal properties but also as a symbol of “sweet water.” A river flowing with licorice-sweetened water represents an ideal paradise.
The proverb expresses a life truth: even if you travel searching for this ideal place, you’ll never find a perfect location anywhere.
During the Edo period, many people moved from rural villages to cities or other regions. Some dreamed of a better life in new places.
Yet many discovered they faced similar struggles wherever they went. This shared experience likely gave birth to the proverb.
The phrase “river flowing with licorice” doesn’t just mean material wealth. It represents any ideal environment without hardship.
This expression contains the deep insight of our ancestors. They understood the importance of accepting reality as it is.
Usage Examples
- I advised my friend who keeps changing jobs that nowhere you go will you find a river flowing with licorice, so he should try harder at his current workplace
- I dream of moving abroad, but when I remember that nowhere you go will you find a river flowing with licorice, I feel grateful for my current life
Universal Wisdom
Humans have a fundamental desire to escape from current suffering. “Changing locations” seems like the most obvious and hopeful solution.
This is because moving somewhere new feels easier than changing ourselves.
This proverb has been passed down for hundreds of years because our ancestors repeatedly experienced the same lesson. Even in a new place or workplace, relationship conflicts and unexpected difficulties await.
Many problems don’t come just from our external environment. They also come from within ourselves.
This truth marks an important turning point in human growth. From “running away” to “facing challenges.” From “searching” to “building.”
When you realize no perfect environment exists, you finally develop the power to put down roots. You learn to improve your surroundings with your own hands.
This proverb doesn’t deny the value of pursuing ideals. Instead, it teaches deep life wisdom.
True happiness isn’t something you find externally. It’s something you create in the place where you are now.
When AI Hears This
For licorice to dissolve and flow in river water, countless licorice molecules must concentrate in a specific location continuously.
However, the second law of thermodynamics states that molecules naturally diffuse and thin out. For example, if you pour a cup of sugar water into a river, it becomes undetectable within seconds.
This happens because molecular arrangements have a much higher probability of moving from “concentrated states” to “scattered states.”
Specifically, one liter of water contains approximately 3.3×10²⁵ water molecules. The probability that this many molecules would coincidentally flow together with licorice molecules in an orderly fashion is astronomically close to zero.
To keep licorice dissolved throughout a river, you would need continuous energy input, constantly adding licorice upstream. In other words, a “river flowing with licorice” means maintaining a low-entropy state.
This is impossible without continuous external energy input.
The essence of this proverb reveals the direction the universe naturally moves. Ordered things inevitably become disordered if left alone.
Rooms get messy easily, but cleaning requires effort. The same physical law explains why ideal paradises don’t exist.
Ancient people didn’t know thermodynamics, yet they intuitively grasped this fundamental principle of the universe.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people the importance of “facing challenges before running away.”
Have you ever seen others’ brilliant lives on social media and felt your own environment looked dull? Yet every environment has invisible struggles.
No perfect place exists. What matters is thinking about what you can do where you are now.
Of course, you should leave truly harmful environments. But moving based only on vague expectations that “something better must exist somewhere” is dangerous.
Knowing that difficulties exist everywhere helps you make calm judgments.
This proverb doesn’t teach you to give up. Rather, it shows that the power to innovate, improve, and build relationships within your current environment leads to true happiness.
Instead of endlessly searching for an ideal river, making the water where you are a little sweeter through effort will surely help you grow more.
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