遠くの親類より近くの他人

Japanese

Kanji in this term
遠	親	類	近	他	人
とお Grade: 2	しん Grade: 2	るい Grade: 4	ちか Grade: 2	た Grade: 3	にん Grade: 1

Alternative spelling
遠くの親類より近くの他人 (kyūjitai)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [to̞ːkɯ̟ᵝ no̞ ɕĩnɾɯ̟ᵝi jo̞ɾʲi t͡ɕika̠kɯ̟ᵝ no̞ ta̠ɲ̟ĩɴ]

Proverb

遠(とお)くの親(しん)類(るい)より近(ちか)くの他(た)人(にん) • (tōku no shinrui yori chikaku no tanin) 

1. Literally, "Neighbors nearby over family far away." People often rely more on unrelated people close to them rather than family who are living far away, in particular during times of disaster.