弓は袋に太刀は鞘

Japanese

Kanji in this term
弓	袋	太	刀	鞘
ゆみ Grade: 2	ふくろ Grade: S	たち		さや Jinmeiyō
ゆみ Grade: 2	ふくろ Grade: S	Grade: 2	Grade: 2	さや Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi	kun'yomi	jukujikun		kun'yomi

Etymology

Phrase consisting of 弓 (yumi, “archery bow”) +‎ は (wa, topic particle) +‎ 袋 (fukuro, “bag”) +‎ に (ni, locative particle: “in”) +‎ 太刀 (tachi, “long sword, great sword”) +‎ は (wa, topic particle) +‎ 鞘 (saya, “sheath”). Literally “bows are in [their] bags and swords [their] sheaths”.^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [jɯ̟mʲi β̞a̠ ɸɯ̟kɯ̟ɾo̞ ɲ̟i ta̠t͡ɕi β̞a̠ sa̠ja̠]

Idiom

弓(ゆみ)は袋(ふくろ)に太刀(たち)は鞘(さや) • (yumi wa fukuro ni tachi wa saya)

“God is in His heaven and all is right with the world” → a metaphor for peaceful circumstances

References

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ-1] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1]

[2]