塵も積もれば山となる

塵も積もれば山となる

Japanese

Kanji in this term
塵	積	山
ちり Hyōgaiji	つ Grade: 4	やま Grade: 1

Idiom

塵も積もれば山となる (hiragana ちりもつもればやまとなる, rōmaji chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru)

1. many a mickle makes a muckle, small things together become a large thing; literally dust, if piled up, becomes a mountain
   • 1979, Sohō Tokutomi and Kiyoshi Hiraizumi, Kinsei Nihon Kokumin-shi [Recent history of the Japanese people], page 6:

     世 (よ)に「塵 (ちり)も積 (つ)もれば山 (やま)となる」という諺 (ことわざ)があるが、わが「近 (きん)世 (せい)日 (に)本 (ほん)国民史 (こくみんし)」も、まさしくこの通 (とお)りだ。

     Yo ni “chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru” to iu kotowaza ga aru ga, waga “Kinsei Nihon Kokumin-shi” mo, masashiku kono tōri da.

     There is an expression, "Even piled up dust becomes a mountain," and to us this certainly applies to Kinsei Nihon Kokumin-shi.