Translation guide
A mysterious flickering light seen at night over marshes or swamps, often used metaphorically for something elusive or misleading.
The natural phenomenon of a pale, flickering light seen over marshy ground at night, caused by ignited marsh gas.
Something that is impossible to achieve or catch; a misleading hope or deceptive goal.
Do not translate 'will-o'-the-wisp' directly as 'ウィル・オ・ザ・ウィスプ'. This is not understood in Japanese. Use the appropriate Japanese term based on context.
I saw a will-o'-the-wisp in the marsh at night.
Literally 'fox fire', a folkloric term for mysterious lights, often associated with foxes in Japanese mythology.
狐火が田んぼの上に浮かんでいた。
Fox fire was floating above the rice paddies.
A 'human soul' fire, a ball of fire believed to be the soul of a dead person. More supernatural than natural.
墓地で人魂が飛ぶのを見たという話がある。
There is a story about seeing a will-o'-the-wisp flying in the graveyard.
Means 'phantom', 'illusion', or 'vision'. Used for something that seems real but is not, or an unattainable dream.
完全な幸福は幻に過ぎない。
Perfect happiness is nothing but a will-o'-the-wisp.
Literally 'something without a place to grasp', meaning elusive, intangible, or hard to pin down.
成功は捕らえどころのないものだ。
Success is a will-o'-the-wisp.
A mirage. Can be used metaphorically for an illusion or something unattainable, though primarily a natural phenomenon.
彼の約束は蜃気楼のように消えた。
His promise vanished like a will-o'-the-wisp.