How to Read “上り一日下り一時”
nobori ichinichi kudari ichiji
Meaning of “上り一日下り一時”
This proverb expresses that accomplishing something requires a long time and effort, but losing it or ruining it can happen in an instant.
When climbing a mountain, you ascend step by step carefully, taking time, but when descending, you can come down quickly by letting gravity help you. This proverb teaches us about the frightening speed at which things we’ve worked hard to build up can crumble. It’s used in situations where it takes years to build trust relationships, but one careless remark can make everything go to waste, or where money saved over many years can be lost in a single night of gambling. The reason for using this proverb is to convey as a real experience the importance of accumulating effort and the difficulty of maintaining it. Even today, this lesson applies to various situations such as career development, human relationships, and health management.
Origin and Etymology
The origin of this proverb is thought to have emerged from actual experiences of walking mountain paths. In mountain climbing, going up requires taking time to slowly advance step by step, but going down can be accomplished in relatively short time with the help of gravity – this puts into words a phenomenon that everyone experiences.
Since similar expressions can be found in Edo period literature, it appears to be a proverb that has been used for quite a long time. For people of that era, walking mountain paths and slopes was an everyday experience. Especially for people living in mountainous areas and those who crossed mountain passes for business, this sensation would have been something they understood intimately.
Also, the geographical characteristics of Japan are thought to be related to the background of how this proverb became established. Japan is a mountainous country, and no matter where you live, you cannot avoid slopes and mountain paths. Therefore, as a phenomenon that many people could actually experience, this proverb was widely accepted.
As time passed, this physical experience came to be used in metaphorical meanings as well, and it’s thought to have become beloved as words expressing various aspects of life.
Usage Examples
- The company’s reputation that was carefully built also became a case of going up one day going down one hour due to a single scandal
- English ability acquired through years of effort is something that, if not used, will be forgotten through going up one day going down one hour
Modern Interpretation
In modern society, there are increasing situations where the meaning of this proverb feels more urgent. Now that social media has become widespread, individual reputations and corporate brand images can instantly fall due to just one post or video. The way trust built over years can crumble overnight due to online backlash can truly be called the modern version of “Going up one day going down one hour.”
Also, in the information society, the obsolescence of knowledge and skills has become faster. This is particularly notable in the IT industry, where technologies cultivated over many years can suddenly become outdated with the emergence of new technology. This can also be called an example of modern “going down one hour.”
On the other hand, in modern times, “recovery from failure” has also become faster than before. If you utilize the internet, acquiring new skills and gathering information can be done efficiently, so the “going up” part may not take as much time as it used to in some cases.
However, regarding human relationships and trust relationships, the essence of building them over time remains unchanged even in the digital age. Rather, with increased online communication, misunderstandings are more likely to occur, and the risk of relationships breaking down may have increased. The lesson this proverb shows can be said to be gaining more importance in modern times.
When AI Hears This
Spending three years cultivating a character in a mobile game, then deleting it in three seconds with the tap of an uninstall button. The complex emotions felt in that moment reveal the psychological truth behind the time perception captured in “climbing takes a day, descending takes an hour.”
According to research by psychologist Daniel Kahneman, the human brain processes “gains” and “losses” through completely different circuits. With gains, we experience joy gradually over time in stages, but losses leave an intense, instantaneous impression. In essence, our brains are inherently wired with a time perception of “slow accumulation, instant collapse.”
What’s particularly fascinating about digital decluttering is the sense of “liberation” felt the moment we press the delete button. While it may take hours to sort through thousands of photos, “delete all” completes instantly. At this moment, the brain simultaneously experiences relief from decision fatigue and anxiety over data loss.
Even more remarkable is how this phenomenon appears most prominently with quantified digital assets like social media follower counts or game levels. Numerically visualized “accumulation” makes the moment of deletion—the “descent”—feel all the more dramatic. The temporal asymmetry that people in the Edo period experienced in their daily lives is now something modern people encounter every day on their smartphone screens.
Lessons for Today
What this proverb teaches modern people is the importance of daily small accumulations and the importance of maintaining awareness to protect them. When we want to accomplish something, we tend to seek shortcuts or dramatic reversals, but truly valuable things are built up over time.
At the same time, it teaches us the difficulty of maintaining what we’ve built up. Especially after gaining success or trust, it’s important to maintain a humble attitude without becoming complacent. We should keep in mind that a single moment of carelessness or rash action can make all our previous efforts come to nothing.
But this proverb is not meant to make us shrink back. Rather, it’s also a positive message that teaches us how important our actions at this very moment are. It reminds us that small daily efforts accumulate to become great achievements, and that today’s single step creates tomorrow’s self. Rather than fearing failure too much, but also not forgetting to be cautious, wouldn’t it be good to continue walking at our own pace?
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