How to Read “If you eat pheasant, even a three-year-old wound will show”
Kiji wo kueba sannen no furukizu mo deru
Meaning of “If you eat pheasant, even a three-year-old wound will show”
This proverb describes how past troubles or problems you thought were completely forgotten can suddenly resurface because of some trigger.
It draws on an old folk belief that eating pheasant meat causes old wounds to ache again. The saying warns that troublesome matters you thought were finished can unexpectedly come back at the worst possible time.
People use this proverb when past troubles or failures resurface as problems just when you thought they were forgotten. It also applies when issues you believed were resolved start causing trouble again.
It’s especially common when past problems appear as obstacles just as you’re trying to start something new.
Today, people also understand it as a warning about how past mistakes or hidden problems can come to light after time has passed.
The image of even a fully healed old wound starting to hurt carries an important lesson. Past troubles never completely disappear and can always flare up again.
Origin and Etymology
The exact first written appearance of this proverb is unclear. However, it’s based on ancient Japanese folk beliefs about pheasant meat.
Pheasants have been familiar wild birds to Japanese people since ancient times. While their meat was considered delicious, folk wisdom widely held that it was “highly toxic.”
What’s particularly interesting is the specific folk belief that eating pheasant meat would make “even a three-year-old wound start hurting.” The “three years” timeframe emphasized how powerful the meat’s supposed toxicity was.
It suggested that even wounds thought to be completely healed would be affected.
In reality, pheasant meat has no special toxicity. However, wild game meat was difficult to preserve and cook properly, sometimes causing food poisoning.
This caution likely became established as folk belief. Also, old wounds do sometimes ache due to changes in atmospheric pressure.
When this happened to occur after eating pheasant, people may have believed there was a cause-and-effect relationship.
From this folk belief, the proverb came to be used metaphorically to mean “past troubles unexpectedly reappear.”
Interesting Facts
The pheasant is designated as Japan’s national bird. Japanese people have loved it since ancient times for its beautiful appearance and brave nature.
The fact that a pheasant appears as one of the companions in the Momotaro folktale shows how familiar and beloved this bird was.
During the Edo period, pheasant meat was prized as a luxury ingredient. At the same time, the folk belief that “eating pheasant makes old wounds hurt” was widely believed.
It was a fascinating food with contradictory images—delicious but possibly dangerous.
Usage Examples
- I thought that scandal was resolved, but as they say, if you eat pheasant, even a three-year-old wound will show—now the problem has been brought up again
- I should have paid off that old debt completely, but if you eat pheasant, even a three-year-old wound will show—I got contacted again about the guarantor issue
Universal Wisdom
The universal truth this proverb reveals is the reality of life: the past never completely disappears. When we solve a problem, we want to feel relieved that everything is finished.
But life isn’t that simple.
Even as time passes, past events continue to influence our lives. This isn’t necessarily only in a bad way, but this proverb warns especially about the negative aspects.
If you hide your mistakes or handle problems halfway, they will inevitably show up later. Just like an old wound aches when the atmospheric pressure changes, past troubles will torment us again when triggered by something.
This wisdom has been passed down for so long because many people have actually experienced this. Just when you think things are going smoothly, a forgotten past problem drags you down.
Such bitter experiences have repeated across the ages.
Our ancestors understood this well. They knew that humans are creatures who want to forget inconvenient things. And they knew the harsh reality that forgetting doesn’t make problems disappear.
This proverb teaches us a fundamental principle of life. We must face the past honestly and solve problems from their roots.
When AI Hears This
Pheasant meat contains about three times more of an amino acid called “histidine” than chicken meat. This histidine converts in the body to a substance called “histamine,” which is the main player in triggering allergic reactions and inflammation.
The itchy nose from hay fever and the swelling from mosquito bites are both the work of this histamine.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Around old wounds, immune cells called “mast cells” remain in greater numbers than usual. These are part of the cells that gathered to heal the wound—like sentries that have recorded the wound’s memory.
These mast cells have the property of reacting sensitively to histamine. So when you eat pheasant and histamine increases in the bloodstream, the mast cells remaining in old wounds react first.
Inflammation occurs intensely at just those sites.
Furthermore, recent research shows that even after wounds heal, a chemical mark called “methylation” attaches to the DNA of surrounding tissue. This keeps the area prone to inflammatory reactions for years.
This is called epigenetic memory. Edo period people observed this down to the specific timeframe of “three years.” In fact, tissue-level inflammatory memory does remain for several years.
The experiential knowledge that identified the relationship between the specific food of pheasant and old wounds anticipated modern immunology discoveries by hundreds of years.
Lessons for Today
What this proverb teaches us today is the importance of “thoroughness” in problem-solving. Whether in work or relationships, there’s always the temptation to settle for superficial solutions.
But if you avoid facing the root cause and leave it alone, it will inevitably reappear later.
In modern society, speed is emphasized so much that time to tackle the essence of problems is often neglected. But the consequences of rushed work always come back around.
Skipping over fine print in contracts, leaving relationship tensions ambiguous, postponing follow-up medical tests—these small accumulations of “unresolved” matters come back as big problems at unexpected times.
That’s why you should face problems before you honestly and thoroughly. Even if it’s troublesome, even if it takes time, don’t spare the effort to solve things from the root.
This protects your future self. Handling the past carefully is actually the best investment in your future.
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