what's done is done; no use crying over spilt milk
Proverb meaning that once something has happened, it cannot be undone, similar to the English 'it's no use crying over spilt milk'. The literal image is of water spilled from a basin that cannot be returned.
It's already over. As they say, what's done is done.
There's no use crying over spilt milk; regretting past mistakes won't change anything.
Both express that something is too late to change, but 覆水盆に返らず emphasizes the irreversibility of an action, while 後の祭り focuses on the futility of regret after the fact.
Standard kanji spelling for this proverb.
Variant spelling using 帰る instead of 返る; irregular kanji usage.
A Japanese proverb derived from a classical Chinese story. The literal meaning is 'spilled water does not return to the basin', used to illustrate that a past event cannot be undone.