57626


In the anime _Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai_ , Season 2, Episode 2, when Kaguya
gives a paper fan for Shirogane's birthday, it shows that she wrote a kanji
that, according to the subtitles, is " _unyielding diligence in one's studies_
".

[![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nYgXE.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nYgXE.jpg)

[![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nfuoe.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nfuoe.jpg)

[![](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Pyn9M.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Pyn9M.jpg)

I'd like to ask if the meaning is correct. I tried to write it, but as it's in
Japanese calligraphy, I couldn't make it.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-20T11:04:26.823
57625
2023-05-10T01:46:41.903
2023-05-10T01:46:38.707
2516
50591
question
japanese-language kaguya-sama-love-is-war
What is the written kanji on the paper fan in season 2 episode 2?


**The kanji on the paper fan is 磨穿鉄硯【ませんてっけん】.**

According to
[weblio](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E7%A3%A8%E7%A9%BF%E9%89%84%E7%A1%AF),
the translation is correct:

> showing unyielding diligence in one's studies; wearing a hole through one's
> metal inkstone from constant studying

This is actually a [_yojijukugo_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yojijukugo) or
"four-character idiom" that is easier to search compared to identifying the
characters in Japanese calligraphy directly.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-20T11:34:14.527
57626
2023-05-10T01:46:41.903
2023-05-10T01:46:41.903
2516
2516
57625
answer


To expand on Aki Tanaka's answer: It's a reference to the Chinese story of
Sang Weihan, a 10th-century official during the Five Dynasties period. Per [a
footnote to West and Idema's translation of The Story of the Western
Wing](https://books.google.com/books?id=BaQwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&dq=sang%20weihan%20inkstone&source=bl&ots=5m8IwWxpif&sig=ACfU3U1GAL8FAIrlamE4YBeESGPA7J7Ssw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj6wLqZrNLpAhUDUt8KHSqrCFMQ6AEwAnoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=sang%20weihan%20inkstone&f=false),
when he went to take his civil service exams, his examiner failed him because
the examiner thought his name was unlucky, because it was a homophone for the
word for "mourning". Sang was advised to find another career, but instead he
vowed not to give up on the exam until he'd worn through his iron inkstone
studying. [He eventually passed his exam and went on to have a career as an
official.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sang_Weihan)

So it's not just an expression, it's also a historical and literary reference.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-26T20:31:55.773
57706
2020-05-26T20:31:55.773
53526
57625
answer