自業自得

• 読み: じごうじとく
• ローマ字: jigō jitoku
• 漢字の分解: 自 (self) + 業 (deed/karma) + 自 (self) + 得 (gain/result) → gaining the result of one's own deeds
• 発音: /dʑi.goː.dʑi.to.ku/

意味

You reap what you sow — the consequences of your own actions coming back to you.

A Buddhist-origin four-character idiom expressing the concept of karmic consequences. In modern usage, it is a blunt way of saying 'serves you right' or 'you brought this on yourself.' While originally a neutral Buddhist teaching about cause and effect, in everyday conversation it almost always carries a judgmental or scolding tone. It is used when someone suffers the predictable consequences of their own poor choices.

例文

1. 試験勉強しなかったんだから不合格は自業自得でしょ。
2. 浮気してバレたんだから自業自得だよ。
3. 寝坊して電車に乗り遅れたのは完全に自業自得だ。

使い方ガイド

場面: friends, everyday conversation, social media

トーン: judgmental, blunt

正しい言い方

• 約束破ったんだから嫌われるのは自業自得 (You broke your promise, so being disliked is your own fault)
• 自業自得だけどちょっとかわいそうだね (It's self-inflicted, but I do feel a bit sorry for them)

避ける言い方

• 災害の被害者に「自業自得」は絶対に言わない (Never say 'you reap what you sow' to disaster victims)

よくある間違い

• Using 自業自得 toward people facing situations beyond their control — it should only apply to self-caused problems
• Not understanding the Buddhist origin and using it too casually in serious conversations

起源と歴史

From Buddhist philosophy where 業 (gō/karma) refers to the moral consequences of one's actions. The compound literally means 'one's own deeds, one's own gain,' reflecting the idea that actions inevitably produce fitting results.

文化的背景

時代: Buddhist origin, universally used in modern Japanese

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal

地域メモ: Used across all of Japan. One of the most commonly used four-character idioms in daily conversation.