四字熟語　「初志貫徹」

This post is authored by Jonathan. Please check out his blog, Jonathan’s Japan(ese) Journal • ジョナサンの日本(語)日記, for more Japanese related articles.

Many of you out there have wrapped up your summer studies and are enjoying your summer vacation. With all that free time, what a perfect chance to recommit yourself to your Japanese studies! And to that end, I’ve prepared for you a lesson in positive thinking.

初志貫徹
しょ・し・かん・てつ
(first / intention or plan / pierce / penetrate or clear)

Sure, it looks like it’s a bit of a doozy, but don’t get overwhelmed by the seeming difficulty of the characters. The meaning of the phrase is simple: to see one’s original intention to the end.

Let’s go ahead and break this thing apart first. (As always, Japanese readings are in hiragana and Chinese readings are in katakana.)

初
はじ（めて）、はつ、ショ
first time, beginning

(Pro tip: When written with its leading kanji, はじめて, meaning “for the first time,” is written 初めて and not 始めて. 始 is the character for the verb はじめる, which means “to begin.”)

志
こころざ（す）、こころざし、シ
intention, plan, resolve, aspire, motive, hopes

貫
つらぬく、ぬく、カン
pierce, penetrate, brace

徹
テツ (That’s right—no Japanese reading!)
penetrate, clear, pierce, strike home, sit up (all night)

I find the use of two characters that can refer to piercing through something to be the most interesting angle of this compound. If you were to interpret the whole expression in an over-literal way, you could say that they mean “to hold on your first intention and then pierce and pierce your way to the end.” (貫徹 is actually a word in its own right meaning “accomplishment, realization, penetration.” Kind of this “piercing your way to accomplishments” meaning, it seems.)

With that said, let’s look at a simple example sentence, which I found online:

やるなら初志貫徹でやり通せよ。
(やる　なら　しょしかんてつ　で　やりとおせ　よ)
Literally, “If you’re going to do, carry out your original intention and do it.”
Less literally, “If you’re going to do it, do it all the way.”
(遣り通す means “to carry through, to achieve, to complete.)

“If you’re gonna be in it, be in it to win it!” is the way that I like to look at this sentence. In a basic sense, that’s what it’s saying. Grammatically, it’s interesting to see that you can use 初志貫徹 with で and attach it to a verb. I would imagine that you often see this with verbs that can translate to “do,” such as する, やる, and of course, 遣り通す.

Let’s look at another sentence.

私は何があっても、初志貫徹の決意で頑張ります！
(わたし　は　なに　が　あって　も、　しょしかんてつ　の　けつい　で　がんばります)
Literally, “No matter what happens, I’ll do my best with the determination of seeing my original intention through to the end!”
Less literally, “I plan to see this through to the end no matter what!”
(決意 means “decision, determination. 頑張る means “to persist, to try one’s best.”)

Wow, I like that speaker’s attitude. As you can see, 初志貫徹 can be used with 決意 to emphasize your mindset and commitment to getting things done.

This compound is a wee bit complicated, so be sure to practice it. I recommend writing down the compounds and kanji that we present and even posting them on your wall so that you’ll have constant reminders of them.

日本語を勉強するなら初志貫徹の決意でしてくださいね。