How to Read “Bury your bones in the green mountains”
せいざんほねをうずむべし
Meaning of “Bury your bones in the green mountains”
This proverb teaches that people with ambition should not settle in their hometown. Instead, they should venture into the wider world to test their abilities and aim for great success. It encourages young people who feel anxious or hesitant about leaving their parents or familiar places to boldly step into the outside world.
This saying is used when encouraging young people leaving home for school or work. It also applies when supporting someone who is leaving a stable environment to take on new challenges. The key is not just moving to a different place. The proverb assumes you have a clear purpose or ambition driving you forward.
Today, we understand this proverb more broadly. It refers not only to physical relocation but to any act of breaking free from comfortable environments or existing frameworks. It celebrates the attitude of challenging yourself toward bigger goals, wherever that journey may take you.
Origin and Etymology
The exact origin of this proverb remains unclear. No definitive source text has been identified. However, we can learn much by examining the words themselves.
The word “aoyama” (green mountains) has two meanings in Japanese. It can mean lush, green mountains in nature. It can also mean a cemetery or burial ground. During the Edo period, many feudal lord estates were built in Tokyo’s Aoyama area. Later, cemeteries were established there, making “aoyama” synonymous with burial grounds.
However, in this proverb, “aoyama” likely means “some distant place” or “unfamiliar land.” It represents the unknown world beyond your hometown.
“Bury your bones” means to end your life in that place. It expresses the resolve to live there until death. When someone leaves home with ambition, they vow not to return until achieving their goal. Even if they die in a foreign land, they accept this as their fate. This phrase shows tremendous determination.
This expression reflects influence from classical Chinese thought. The idea that “a man with ambition leaves his hometown and does not return” resonated deeply in Japan. It connected with bushido (the way of the samurai) and the philosophy of rising in the world through personal achievement.
After the Meiji period, during Japan’s modernization, this saying gained special significance. It captured the feelings of young people leaving rural areas for cities to seek success. The proverb became a powerful expression of their hopes and determination.
Usage Examples
- When I heard my son got into a Tokyo university, I told him “Bury your bones in the green mountains” and sent him off
- Even though I had stable work locally, I decided to challenge myself overseas with the spirit of “Bury your bones in the green mountains”
Universal Wisdom
This proverb has endured because it touches on two opposing human needs: growth and comfort. Everyone feels safer and more relaxed in familiar places with familiar people. Yet humans also possess a desire to test their potential and see a bigger world.
What makes this proverb interesting is its emphasis on “ambition” rather than mere adventure or curiosity. It does not praise reckless wandering. Instead, it values leaving home with a clear goal and purpose. This shows deep insight: real growth requires both courage to step outside your comfort zone and strong will to sustain that journey.
The proverb also teaches wisdom about passing knowledge between generations. It tells parents to overcome the pain of letting children go. More than that, they should actively send them out into the world. This means rising above the instinct to keep loved ones close. It represents altruistic love that wishes for another person’s growth.
This reflects a universal human practice: society as a whole nurturing the next generation. Parents sacrifice their comfort so their children can flourish. This cycle of letting go and supporting growth continues across all cultures and times.
When AI Hears This
All matter in the universe naturally scatters, crumbles, and becomes disordered. This is the second law of thermodynamics: entropy always increases. Just as milk stirred into coffee never spontaneously returns to its original pattern, everything mixes together. Information gets lost, and order collapses toward chaos.
Yet people who embrace “Bury your bones in the green mountains” directly oppose this universal law. Maintaining goal-oriented order for decades requires enormous energy. Consider this: the human brain is only 2 percent of body weight but consumes 20 percent of total energy. Most of that energy maintains the order of neural cells.
Holding onto ambition means running this high-cost order-maintenance system toward a specific purpose every single day. This demands constant energy investment against the universe’s natural tendency toward disorder.
Even more fascinating is how people with strong ambition create order around them. They unite organizations, drive projects forward, and mentor the next generation. These actions locally decrease entropy. But the cost is high: the person needs constant energy replenishment through food and sleep.
Fulfilling your ambition is essentially a physical phenomenon. You pour massive amounts of energy into your system to resist the universe’s drift toward chaos. To pursue your goal until you bury your bones literally requires a lifetime’s worth of energy investment.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people that growth requires a degree of instability. Today, remote work and online learning let us accomplish much without physical movement. Yet true growth still comes from removing yourself from familiar environments and exposing yourself to new stimuli.
The key is not simply changing locations. What matters is whether you have ambition inside you. Do you have something you truly want to achieve? If that ambition exists, courage will emerge even when you feel anxious or afraid. That inner drive gives you strength to take the first step.
Modern society has lowered barriers to changing jobs or moving. Yet many people feel paralyzed by too many choices. This proverb encourages you not to wait for perfect timing. If you have ambition, you can start moving right now.
Your potential extends beyond where you are today. Do not be afraid. Take that first step. The world outside your comfort zone holds possibilities you have not yet imagined. Your ambition will guide you forward, even through uncertainty.
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