百鬼夜行

ひゃっ　き　や　こう
hya kki ya kou

The Kanji that make up today's special Halloween 四字熟語 are, in order: hundred, demon, night, and go.

Definition: たくさんの妖怪が夜俳諧すること。

Translations:
1. There are a shit-ton of unseen monsters prowling in the dark.
2. A situation where extreme caution is prudent; unseen risks lurk everywhere.
3. Evil characters and sinister plots abound.
4. Something wicked this way comes?

I found a website that says:
「...妖怪の百鬼夜行ではありません。先物の世界を百鬼夜行に例えています。」
(My terrible translation: It's not about ghosts and goblins roaming the night. It's a metaphor about the future of the world.)
(Nirav's contextual [better] translation: It's not a literal procession of demons in the night; it's a metaphor for the unknown dangers the future certainly holds.)
But then one of my Japanese friends says that it's extremely rare to hear it used, and that maybe the only time she can think of to use it would be Obon, when the spirits of the dead are given their own parade.

Today's pictures come hand-stolen from my all time favorite ghost and demon website, The Obakemono Project, which you can now also find in my links section. It's a great site.

例文：もしも八ロウェーンのことをぜんぜん知らない日本人が十月三十一日の夜にアメリカに行ったら、「百鬼夜行だ！」と思うかな？
If a Japanese person who knew nothing about Halloween happened to go to America on Halloween night, would they think it was the real deal?


Happy Halloween!

悪事千里

あく　じ　千　り
aku ji sen ri

You'll recognize today's kanji, in the following order, as: Bad, thing, thousand, village. And from that, you might be able to surmise the...

Definition:悪い事はすぐに世の中に知れること。


Translation:
1. Bad news travels fast...
2. ...except that it seems to have more of a connotation of something bad that you did, instead of something bad that happened (ie, you killed your grandma and not just your grandma died.Accepting suggestions on cultural translations, but the idea is, when you do something bad, you run the risk of the whole world finding out about it.　Also, I have it on good authority that if you want to use it in the context of a sentence, and not in its natural form, it should be used with "を走る。”

Today's picture is completely unrelated.

例文：僕の町はあまり大きくないので、悪事千里を走る。浮気したくても、出来ない。ぜったいばれてしまう。
My town is so small that gossip spreads like wildfire. Even if I wanted to cheat, I can't. I would definitely be found out.

自業自得

じ　ごう　じ　とく
ji gou ji toku

Definition: 自分でした事に対する悪いむくいを自分で受けること。

Cultural Translations:
1. You made your bed, now lie in it.
2. You have no one to blame but yourself.
3. It's your own damn fault.

I learned this one about 8 months ago when I was involved in a drunken bike accident. I tried to jump off of a wheelchair ramp and ended up with a concussion, twelve stitches, and a three day hospital stay. 自業自得。

例文：僕のもと彼女はいつも「聞いて欲しい」と言ったけど、僕はあまり聞いてあげなかった。だから、別れたことは自業自得です。
My ex-girlfriend always wanted me to listen to her, but I never really did. So the break-up is my own damn fault.