藪やぶの中なか

や

ぶ

の

な

か

Meanings

expression, noun

mystery due to conflicting accounts; unknown truth; in a grove (literal)

Idiomatic phrase from Akutagawa Ryūnosuke's short story 'In a Grove' (藪の中). Used when conflicting testimonies make the truth unknowable. The literal meaning 'in a grove' is rarely used outside the title.

この事じ件けんはまさに藪やぶの中なかだ。
This case is truly a mystery with conflicting accounts.
目もく撃げき者しゃの話はなしが食くい違ちがっていて、何なにが真しん実じつか藪やぶの中なかだ。
The witnesses' stories contradict each other; the truth is unknown.

Written forms

藪やぶの中なかUsage100%
Standard kanji spelling; the phrase is widely recognized from Akutagawa's story.
薮やぶの中なか
Variant kanji form using 薮 instead of 藪; less common but still encountered.

Kanji

藪thicket, bush, underbrush
中in, inside, middle
薮thicket, bush, underbrush

Similar words

羅ら生しょう門もん
Another Akutagawa story title used idiomatically, but 羅生門 refers to a situation where people's selfish motives are exposed, while 藪の中 refers to the impossibility of knowing the truth due to conflicting perspectives.

Etymology

From the title of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's 1922 short story '藪の中' (In a Grove), in which multiple characters give contradictory accounts of a crime, leaving the truth unknowable. The phrase became an idiom for situations where conflicting testimonies obscure the facts.