expression, noun
Yawata no Yabushirazu; bamboo grove in Chiba; legendary inescapable thicket
Proper noun referring to a specific bamboo grove in Chiba Prefecture, famous in folklore as a place from which one cannot find a way out.
八幡の藪知らずは、千葉県市川市にある竹林で、一度入ると出られないという伝説がある。
Yawata no Yabushirazu is a bamboo grove in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, with a legend that once you enter, you cannot get out.
expression, noun
inescapable thicket; maze; getting lost; unable to find a way out
Rare figurative use derived from the place name, describing any confusing, maze-like situation or thicket from which escape is difficult. Sense 3 (getting lost) is closely related and merged here.
この問題はまるで八幡の藪知らずだ。
This problem is like an inescapable maze.
古い文献では、迷いやすい場所を
In old texts, confusing places are sometimes likened to 'Yawata no Yabushirazu'.
The expression originates from the name of a real bamboo grove in Chiba Prefecture, 八幡 (Yawata) + 藪 (thicket) + 知らず (not knowing), literally 'the thicket of Yawata that one cannot know (the way out of)'. The historical derivation beyond the literal components is uncertain.