笑う門には福来る

Japanese

Kanji in this term
笑	門	福	来
わら Grade: 4	かど Grade: 2	ふく Grade: 3	きた Grade: 2
kun’yomi		on’yomi	kun’yomi

Alternative spellings
笑う門には福來る (kyūjitai) 笑う門には福来たる笑門には福来たる

Alternative forms

(Sinicized?) 笑門来福(しょうもんらいふく) (shōmonraifuku), 笑門福来(しょうもんふくらい) (shōmonfukurai)

Etymology

Phrase consisting of 笑う (warau, “to laugh”) + 門 (kado, “gate, door; house, household; family”) + に (ni, directional particle) + は (wa, topic and contrastive particle) + 福 (fuku, “good fortune”) + 来る (kitaru, “to come along, to make its way to”).[1][2][3]

First cited to a text from the late 1500s.[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɰᵝa̠ɾa̠ɯ̟ᵝ ka̠do̞ ɲ̟i ɰᵝa̠ ɸɯ̟ᵝkɯ̟ᵝ kʲita̠ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

Idiom

笑(わら)う門(かど)には福(ふく)来(きた)る • (warau kado ni wa fuku kitaru)

[from late 1500s] good fortune comes to the homes of those who smile

References

“笑門には福来たる”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, →ISBN
“笑う門には福来る”, in デジタル大辞泉 (Dejitaru Daijisen)‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ2-1] “笑門には福来たる”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, →ISBN

[DDJS-2] “笑う門には福来る”, in デジタル大辞泉 (Dejitaru Daijisen)‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months

[DJR-3] 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN