How to Read “Don’t borrow what you’ve lost, like a needle”
Usetaru hari oba kawanu mono
Meaning of “Don’t borrow what you’ve lost, like a needle”
“Don’t borrow what you’ve lost, like a needle” means that trying to recover something once lost is pointless.
Small things like needles are hard to find once lost. No matter how much you search, they won’t turn up. This proverb teaches us to let go of our attachment to lost things.
This saying applies to missed opportunities, ended relationships, and lost time. Things that can no longer be recovered.
For example, someone might keep regretting a missed chance. Or they might try desperately to revive a finished relationship. In such cases, you could say, “That’s like trying to borrow what you’ve lost, like a needle.”
Even today, we tend to cling to what we’ve lost. But this proverb calmly points out that such attachment is useless.
It teaches us the importance of changing our mindset and moving forward.
Origin and Etymology
This proverb was likely used from the Muromachi period through the Edo period. “Usetaru” means “lost.” “Kawanu” is an old word meaning “don’t borrow” or “don’t seek.”
Needles were extremely valuable tools back then. This wasn’t an age of mass production. Each needle was handmade by craftsmen and cost a lot.
Still, needles were small and thin. Once lost, finding them was extremely difficult. If one fell between tatami mats or got mixed into an earthen floor, it was almost impossible to find no matter how long you searched.
The use of “kawanu” (don’t borrow) is interesting. It doesn’t just mean “don’t search.” It carries the nuance of “don’t cling to recovering it.”
Even if you desperately seek it like collecting a debt, lost things won’t return. The proverb contains both resignation and a warning against wasted effort.
This saying teaches both the culture of valuing possessions and the wisdom of letting go of lost things.
Even with precious needles, it’s better to look forward and move on than to fixate on what’s lost. This reflects our ancestors’ practical life philosophy.
Interesting Facts
In the Edo period, needles were so valued that people held “Hari Kuyo” ceremonies to honor them. Broken or bent needles were stuck into tofu or konnyaku and offered at shrines.
This thanked the needles for their daily service. Because needles were so precious, the futility of endlessly searching for a lost one gave this proverb its persuasive power.
“Kawanu” is an old word rarely used in modern Japanese. It’s the negative form of “karu,” meaning “to borrow” or “to seek.”
It was used not just for lending money, but broadly for “seeking” or “collecting.” In this proverb, there’s a somewhat ironic nuance.
It suggests that trying to collect a lost needle like a debt is pointless.
Usage Examples
- I missed the chance to apply to that company, but it’s like trying to borrow what you’ve lost, like a needle, so I’ll look for the next opportunity
- I contacted her many times to repair our relationship, but it was like trying to borrow what you’ve lost, like a needle, so I had to give up
Universal Wisdom
“Don’t borrow what you’ve lost, like a needle” contains deep insight about human attachment and the difficulty of letting go.
Why do we cling so strongly to what we’ve lost?
It’s because the experience of losing leaves deep pain in our hearts. The suffering of losing something we had feels greater than never having it at all.
This tendency, known in psychology as “loss aversion,” is part of human instinct. That’s why we sometimes make irrational efforts to recover what we’ve lost.
But our ancestors understood that this attachment creates new suffering. Continuing to search for a lost needle means turning away from what you can do right now.
Attachment to the past blocks steps toward the future.
This proverb has been passed down because humans have always faced this struggle. The pain of losing and the courage to let go.
Knowing both is necessary to move life forward. This proverb quietly but surely teaches us this truth.
When AI Hears This
The moment you drop a needle, its position information disperses into the vast system called the environment. This is exactly what information theory calls entropy increase.
For example, in one tatami mat’s space, there are thousands of possible positions for the needle. Two mats mean tens of thousands. An entire room means millions.
When the search area doubles, possibilities don’t just double. They increase exponentially.
Shannon, the founder of information theory, defined information as “the reduction of uncertainty.” A needle’s position has maximum uncertainty the moment it’s dropped.
If you divide one square meter into one-centimeter squares, you get 10,000 cells. Finding the needle requires an average of 5,000 searches.
If each search takes 3 seconds, that’s over 4 hours. If a needle cost as much as one cup of rice back then, you could buy several cups of rice with 4 hours of day labor.
What’s more interesting is that “information asymmetry” affects search costs. The needle continues to exist quietly, but the searcher actively consumes energy.
As the second law of thermodynamics shows, restoring order requires more energy than was lost to disorder.
The people of Edo understood this physical law through experience.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches us the importance of “the courage to let go.” We lose various things every day.
Job opportunities, relationships, time, and sometimes even dreams. Each time, we might desperately try to recover them.
But continuing to cling to what’s already lost means turning away from possibilities in this present moment.
If you have time to keep looking back at the past, you could use that time to take a new step forward.
Rather than searching endlessly for a lost needle, it’s better to start sewing with a new one. That’s how you move forward.
This isn’t about giving up. It’s wisdom to calmly assess the situation and decide where to focus your limited time and energy.
Modern society overflows with choices. That’s exactly why we need the ability to decide what to let go and what to focus on.
If you’re currently consumed by something you’ve lost, stop and think. Is that attachment really moving you forward?
By letting go, a new door might open.
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