How to Read “The debt to parents and the debt to water cannot be repaid”
Oya no on to mizu no on wa okuraenu
Meaning of “The debt to parents and the debt to water cannot be repaid”
This proverb means that the debt to parents and the blessing of water are so precious that they cannot be transferred to others.
The word “repaid” here actually means “passed on” or “transferred to someone else.”
The debt you owe your parents can only be repaid to those parents. No matter how grateful you feel, you cannot have someone else repay that debt for you.
Similarly, the blessing of water can only be received by the person who drinks it. You cannot transfer it to another person.
People use this proverb when they cannot directly repay a debt, or when they want to express how heavy that debt feels.
It is especially used after parents pass away, when someone regrets not showing more gratitude while they were alive.
People also use it to emphasize how precious and irreplaceable a debt is.
Even today, this saying teaches us about the importance of direct relationships between people. It reminds us to repay our debts right now, in this moment.
Origin and Etymology
No clear written records explain the origin of this proverb. However, we can learn interesting things by looking at how the words are used.
First, let’s focus on the word “okuraren” (cannot be repaid). The verb “okuru” here does not mean “to mail” as it does in modern Japanese.
In classical Japanese, it meant “to transfer to another person” or “to pass on to the next person.”
So this proverb actually means “The debt to parents and the debt to water cannot be transferred to others.”
The part about parents is easy to understand. The love and care you received from your parents can only be repaid to those specific parents. It is irreplaceable.
But why is “the debt to water” mentioned alongside parents? Japan has always centered its culture around rice farming.
Water is the source of life. In agriculture especially, securing water was a matter of life and death.
Conflicts over water rights were constant. Having access to clean water was a tremendous blessing.
This blessing of water is also something only you can receive. You cannot transfer it to someone else.
This proverb expresses the preciousness of irreplaceable blessings through two elements deeply connected to Japanese life.
Usage Examples
- I wish I had been a better child while my mother was healthy. The debt to parents and the debt to water cannot be repaid, after all.
- The debt of being raised can only be repaid to your parents. I truly believe that the debt to parents and the debt to water cannot be repaid.
Universal Wisdom
“The debt to parents and the debt to water cannot be repaid” touches on a fundamental truth about human relationships. It offers deep insight into the essential nature of debt.
We sometimes postpone repaying our debts. We think “when I have more time” or “when I have more money.”
While we think this way, we sometimes lose the opportunity forever. This proverb has been passed down for so long because many people have experienced this regret.
There is an even deeper meaning here. A debt exists only between the person who received it and the person who gave it.
It is an extremely personal relationship. No matter how good their intentions, no one else can repay that debt for you.
If someone could not repay their parents, being kind to other elderly people instead is a new good deed. But it is not repaying the debt to their parents.
This irreversibility is what creates the weight of debt. Humans feel deeper value toward things that cannot be undone.
We tend to take things for granted when we can always try again. But when we know we only have one chance, we become serious.
This proverb quietly but powerfully teaches us the preciousness of our relationships in this very moment.
When AI Hears This
Both parental debt and water are actually structured so they “cannot be repaid” according to fundamental laws of the universe.
The second law of thermodynamics states that energy always spreads from an ordered state to a disordered state.
For example, when you pour milk into coffee, it never returns to its separated state. This “inability to return” is deeply connected to why debts cannot be repaid.
Consider parental debt. Parents pour highly concentrated energy into their children. They focus resources like time, money, emotion, and effort into one point.
This is a low-entropy state, a highly ordered gift. But the moment the child receives it, that debt spreads into the child’s growth.
It dissolves into the child’s entire life. It becomes physically impossible to extract “the 10 units of debt received from parents” and return them.
Water is the same. Water received from upstream passes through your body and spreads downstream. You cannot collect the original water molecules and return them upstream.
What is interesting is that this irreversibility creates the act of “passing on to the next generation.”
Increasing entropy creates a one-way flow. From parent to child, from upstream to downstream.
You can only respond to this flow through inheritance, not repayment. The inability to repay debt is not a moral problem.
It is a structure created by the arrow of time itself in the universe.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people the importance of “cherishing the person in front of you right now.”
In our busy daily lives, we tend to postpone gratitude toward important people. But the opportunity to repay debts does not last forever.
Modern society is especially tricky. We can stay in touch even across physical distances, which is convenient.
But this same convenience makes us postpone truly important communication. We think about sending a message but don’t.
We think about making a phone call but don’t. These small postponements pile up.
This proverb asks you a question. Did you express gratitude to your parents today?
Did you spend time truly connecting with someone important this week? Repaying debts does not require a special day or special method.
Small daily considerations, a single phone call, time spent together—these accumulations are true repayment.
Not tomorrow, but today. Not someday, but right now in this moment. That choice creates a life without regrets.
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