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一蓮托生 (いちれんたくしょう) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Freq. Frequency Top 100,000 Meanings 1
noun
sharing one's fate ; being in the same boat
yojijukugo (four-character idiom)
A yojijukugo expressing the idea that two or more people are bound together in the same situation, for better or worse. Often used in serious or dramatic contexts.
この プロジェクト は 一いち 蓮れん 托たく 生しょう の 関かん 係けい だ から 、 全ぜん 員いん で 協きょう 力りょく し なけれ ば なら ない 。
This project is a shared-fate relationship, so everyone must cooperate.
Written forms 一いち 蓮れん 托たく 生しょう
Standard kanji spelling for this yojijukugo.
一いち 連れん 托たく 生しょう
irregular kanji usage
Irregular kanji variant using 連 instead of 蓮.
一いち 蓮れん 託たく 生しょう
irregular kanji usage
Irregular kanji variant using 託 instead of 托.
Kanji 托 requesting, entrusting with, pretend 託 consign, requesting, entrusting with Similar words 運うん 命めい 共きょう 同どう 体たい 運命共同体 is a more formal, often political or organizational term for a community bound by a common destiny, while 一蓮托生 is a more dramatic, personal expression of shared fate.
同どう 舟しゅう 相あい 救すく う 同舟相救う is a proverb meaning 'people in the same boat help each other,' focusing on mutual aid, whereas 一蓮托生 emphasizes the inseparability of fates.
Etymology A yojijukugo derived from a Buddhist parable: two people, one pure and one sinful, are bound together on a lotus leaf (一蓮) and must share the same fate (托生, entrusting their next life). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the phrase is conventionally associated with this story.
