Nana Korobi Ya Oki: Fall Seven Times, Rise Eight

Tip a daruma over and it comes back up. Push it harder and it still comes back up. That small, stubborn motion is a Japanese proverb you can hold in your hand: "Nana korobi ya oki" (七転び八起き), "fall seven times, rise eight."

We are Shirakawa Daruma Sohonpo, a 14th-generation daruma workshop in Shirakawa, Fukushima, and our dolls are hand-painted by a family that has made them for generations. A daruma is a round doll with a weighted bottom, so it always rights itself. Below: what the saying means, why the count ends on eight, and why the doll is such a good partner for it.

What Does Nana Korobi Ya Oki Mean?

七転び八起き • Nana korobi ya oki • "Seven falls, eight risings"

The literal translation is awkward, but the meaning is simple: however many times you fall, you get up once more. "Seven" works as a way of saying "many times," and the phrase is used as encouragement for people facing setbacks.

It treats falling as an expected part of any long effort rather than as a verdict on you. The only thing it asks is that you get up again. But if you fall seven times, why does the saying promise eight rises?

Why "Eight" When You Only Fell Seven Times?

Many learners ask this. If you fall seven times, shouldn't you rise seven times?

One common explanation is that you begin on the ground, the way a baby does before learning to stand. The first rise comes before any fall:

• 1st rise (from the ground)
• 1st fall
• 2nd rise
• 2nd fall
• ...
• 7th fall
• 8th rise

Another reading is that the numbers are not meant to be added up at all. Seven means "many" and eight means "one more," so the last move is always a rise. Either way, the proverb does not end with "and then I succeeded." It ends with "and I got up again."

The idea behind it: what counts is the willingness to keep getting up, not never falling. So where did such a saying come from?

Where Does the Phrase Come From?

Nobody can point to a single source with confidence. It is a long-standing Japanese proverb (kotowaza), though its exact age and first appearance are not firmly established; it is often associated with the Edo period (1603-1868).

Daruma dolls also became popular across Japan during the Edo period. The doll is a natural partner for the saying: it is an okiagari, a self-righting figure. And in some tellings of the Bodhidharma legend, the monk lost the use of his limbs after nine years of meditation. A limbless doll that cannot stay down is easy to remember.

English speakers usually reach for two words to translate the idea, and neither quite fits.

How Is It Different from "Resilience" and "Perseverance"?

English speakers often translate the phrase as "resilience" or "perseverance." Each captures part of it and misses part.

Resilience suggests bouncing back as if nothing happened. The daruma does return to upright, but the saying never pretends the falls did not happen. It counts them: seven of them.

Perseverance puts the weight on effort and grit. The proverb is plainer than that. It points to the simple act of rising again.

A closer English paraphrase might be: it is not about whether you fall, but whether you start again. The saying is gentler than "resilience" and humbler than "perseverance." It expects the falls and asks for one thing in return. That attitude shows up in some unexpected places.

Where Can You See the Idea in Japanese Life?

In martial arts: Judo and aikido teach ukemi, the art of falling safely, from the very beginning. Everyone falls, so students learn how to fall well and get back up.

In sumo: Wrestlers bow after every bout, whether they have won or lost. A tournament runs for days, and tomorrow's bout is a fresh start.

In everyday encouragement: People use the phrase to cheer on a friend after a failed exam, a lost game or a business setback. It is common in speeches, on banners and in school and sports settings.

In Zen: Much of seated meditation is about returning to the breath when the mind wanders. The mind wanders, you notice, you come back. That cycle repeats many times in a single sitting, and it is the practice itself.

Seen this way, the proverb is less a slogan than a habit. Here is how to put it to work.

How Can You Use the Idea?

1. Reframe failure. A fall is an event, not an ending. What shapes the story is what you do next.

2. Lower the cost of starting. If "what if I fail?" is keeping you from beginning, remember that the proverb assumes you will fall at some point. The useful question is how soon you will rise.

3. Stop keeping score. "I tried three times and it didn't work" is not a reason to quit. The saying does not stop at three. It does not stop at seven either.

None of this is uniquely Japanese, which may be why the phrase has traveled so far.

Why Does the Phrase Travel So Well?

Many people outside Japan have come to know the saying through sports, business and self-help writing. It travels well because the experience is so ordinary: most worthwhile things take many attempts, and most people go through at least one collapse along the way. The proverb does not ask you to pretend those falls were not real. It asks you to keep going.

Why Is the Daruma a Daily Reminder?

That is why the daruma is more than decoration. Push it and it stands. Push it again and it stands again. It makes no argument; it simply does it, over and over, on a shelf or a desk.

Many people set a goal with their daruma by painting in one eye, then the other when the goal is met (our guide to making a wish with a daruma explains the customs). In between, the doll sits there as a reminder that the falls between those two moments are part of the journey.

What If You Are Falling Right Now?

If you are in a fall right now, whether a lost job, a relationship that ended, a health scare or a creative block, the proverb offers no quick fix. What it does offer is a different way of looking at things: this is a fall, and falls are part of the count. When you are ready, and it may be slowly, the next move is to rise.

Key takeaways

• Nana korobi ya oki (七転び八起き) means "fall seven times, rise eight": however many times you fall, you get up once more.
• "Seven" is a way of saying "many times," and the eighth rise is explained either by starting on the ground or by reading eight as "one more."
• The proverb (kotowaza) is long-standing and often associated with the Edo period (1603-1868), when daruma dolls also became popular across Japan; its exact origin is uncertain.
• The daruma is an okiagari, a self-righting figure, and its weighted bottom makes it stand up again every time it is pushed over.
• The proverb differs from "resilience" and "perseverance": it counts the falls and asks only that you rise again.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does nana korobi ya oki mean?

It means "fall seven times, rise eight." However many times you fall, you get up once more. "Seven" is used to mean "many times," and the phrase is often used to encourage people facing setbacks.

Why does the proverb say rise eight times instead of seven?

One common explanation is that you start on the ground, so the first rise comes before any fall. Another reading treats seven as "many" and eight as "one more," so the last move is always a rise.

Why is the daruma linked to this proverb?

The daruma is an okiagari, a self-righting doll with a weighted bottom that stands up again however often it is tipped over. In some tellings of the Bodhidharma legend, the monk lost the use of his limbs after nine years of meditation, which adds to the connection.

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Featured Daruma

Each of these is hand-painted in our Fukushima studio:

• Traditional DARUMA – the classic red form, the one most closely tied to this proverb.
• Longevity DARUMA – a daruma for wishing health and a long life.
• Amabie DARUMA – pairs the self-righting doll with the Amabie, a figure linked to warding off illness.

→ Browse all hand-painted daruma

Continue Reading

• What is Shirakawa Daruma? A 300-Year Tradition
• Buddhism, Zen, and the Daruma
• How to Make a Wish with a Daruma

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Written by the team at Shirakawa Daruma Sohonpo, hand-painting daruma in Shirakawa, Fukushima for 14 generations.