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hg
31st October 2001, 03:27
Some time ago I came about a proverb on japanese Castles, about their strength and the time needed to conquer them. It was running like: "Castle X before breakfast, Castle Y in two weeks, and Castle Z not in this life and in this world".
I can't find the source any more. Can anybody help me with the full wording, and the castle names?

Does the japanese Term "asameshi mae" (an easy thing, so easy that you can do it "before breakfast") come from this proverb?

Best wishes

Chris Li
31st October 2001, 04:03
Originally posted by hg
Some time ago I came about a proverb on japanese Castles, about their strength and the time needed to conquer them. It was running like: "Castle X before breakfast, Castle Y in two weeks, and Castle Z not in this life and in this world".
I can't find the source any more. Can anybody help me with the full wording, and the castle names?

Does the japanese Term "asameshi mae" (an easy thing, so easy that you can do it "before breakfast") come from this proverb?

Best wishes

I don't know about the castle quote, but my hunch is that it's not related to "asameshimae", which expands to (as I understand it) "asameshimae no chazuke" or "asameshimae no dachin", but is used in the shorter form in everyday speech.

FWIW, I'd usually translate "asameshimae" as something that is "a piece of cake".

Best,

Chris