Hari no Mushiro (針のむしろ - Bed of Nails)

Hari no Mushiro

A bed of nails or a difficult situation with no rest at all is sometimes described as 'hari no mushiro' (針のむしろ) in Japanese.

Since 'hari' (針) means "needle" and 'mushiro' (むしろ) means "matting," the literal meaning of 'hari no mushiro' is "matting of needles."

This phrase now has the above meaning because it is too painful to sit on a matting with needles embedded in it.

The adverb 'mushiro' (むしろ/寧ろ), meaning "rather" or "instead," has the same sound as the noun 'mushiro' (むしろ/筵) in 'hari no mushiro', but these two are irrelevant.

針のむしろ

少しも気の休まらない、つらい立場や状況のことを、「針のむしろ」と表現することがあります。

「針」は "needle"、「むしろ」は "matting" を意味するので、「針のむしろ」の文字どおりの意味は "matting of needles" となります。

針が植えられたむしろ（敷物）の上には、痛くて座っていられないことから、上記のような意味を持つというわけです。

「むしろ/寧ろ」は「2つを比較し、それよりもこれが良い」という気持ちを表す副詞でもありますが、「針のむしろ」で使われている名詞の「むしろ/筵」とは関係がありません。

• Hari no Mushiro (針のむしろ - Bed of Nails)
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• Hari no Mushiro
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• A bed of nails or a difficult situation with no rest at all is sometimes described as 'hari no mushiro' (針のむしろ) in Japanese.
• This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

• Since 'hari' (針) means "needle" and 'mushiro' (むしろ) means "matting," the literal meaning of 'hari no mushiro' is "matting of needles."
• Since 'hari' (針) means "needle" and 'mushiro' (むしろ) means "matting," the literal meaning of 'hari no mushiro' is "a mat of needles."

• This phrase now has the above meaning because it is too painful to sit on a matting with needles embedded in it.
• This phrase now has the above meaning because it is too painful to sit on a matting with needles embedded in it.

• The adverb 'mushiro' (むしろ/寧ろ), meaning "rather" or "instead," has the same sound as the noun 'mushiro' (むしろ/筵) in 'hari no mushiro', but these two are irrelevant.
• The adverb 'mushiro' (むしろ/寧ろ), meaning "rather" or "instead," has the same pronunciation/sound as the noun 'mushiro' (むしろ/筵) in 'hari no mushiro', but these two words are not related to each other.