塵も積もれば山となる

Japanese

Kanji in this term
塵	積	山
ちり Hyōgaiji	つ Grade: 4	やま Grade: 1

Idiom

塵(ちり)も積(つ)もれば山(やま)となる • (chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru) 

1. many a mickle makes a muckle, small things together become a large thing; literally dust, if piled up, becomes a mountain
   • 1979, Sohō Tokutomi, Kiyoshi Hiraizumi, Kinsei Nihon Kokumin-shi [Recent history of the Japanese people], page 6:

     世(よ)に「塵(ちり)も積(つ)もれば山(やま)となる」という諺(ことわざ)があるが、わが「近(きん)世(せい)日(に)本(ほん)国(こく)民(みん)史(し)」も、まさしくこの通(とお)りだ。

     Yo ni “chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru” to iu kotowaza ga aru ga, waga “Kinsei Nihon Kokumin-shi” mo, masashiku kono tōri da.

     There is an expression, "Even piled up dust becomes a mountain," and to us this certainly applies to Kinsei Nihon Kokumin-shi.