自業自得
じごうじとく
jigou jitoku
= you reap what you sow; serves you right; getting what you deserve as a result of your own actions
Jigou jitoku (自業自得) is the Japanese way of saying ‘you reap what you sow’ — and it carries the weight of Buddhist karma behind it. When someone’s troubles are entirely of their own making, this four-character phrase says it all.
Jigou jitoku (自業自得) is a yojijukugo expressing that one suffers the consequences of one’s own actions. It translates variously as ‘you reap what you sow,’ ‘it serves you right,’ ‘you have only yourself to blame,’ or ‘karma.’ The phrase is used when someone faces a negative outcome that was clearly caused by their own behavior — a student who failed an exam they didn’t study for, an employee who was fired for repeated lateness. While it can be said sympathetically (‘That’s just the natural consequence, unfortunately’), it more often carries a tone of ‘well, what did you expect?’ The phrase originates in Buddhist philosophy: gyou (業, karma/action) and toku (得, to receive/gain) form the core meaning of receiving the results of one’s karmic actions.
Unlike some yojijukugo, jigou jitoku is generally said about a situation, not to someone’s face — saying it directly to someone could sound harsh or cold. It’s more natural in third-person commentary: ano hito wa jigou jitoku da (あの人は自業自得だ, ‘That person is only getting what they deserve’). The nuance is slightly different from pure schadenfreude — jigou jitoku doesn’t imply happiness at someone’s misfortune, just a calm acknowledgment of cause and effect.
自業自得 breaks into: 自 (ji — self, one’s own), 業 (gyou — work, deed, karma), 自 (ji — self, repeated for emphasis), 得 (toku — to gain, to receive). The pattern 自X自X is a classic yojijukugo structure meaning ‘one’s own X leads to one’s own Y.’ Here: ‘one’s own deeds lead to one’s own gain (or loss).’
Everyday use
全然勉強しなかったから、試験に落ちたのは自業自得だよ。
Zenzen benkyou shinakatta kara, shiken ni ochita no wa jigou jitoku da yo.
You didn’t study at all, so failing the exam is entirely your own doing.
Casual / Social Media
ずっとウソをついていたんだから、信頼を失ったのは自業自得。
Zutto uso wo tsuiteita n dakara, shinrai wo ushinatta no wa jigou jitoku.
You kept lying, so losing people’s trust is something you brought on yourself.
Formal / Cultural context
準備を怠った結果がこれだ。まさに自業自得と言える。
Junbi wo okotatta kekka ga kore da. Masa ni jigou jitoku to ieru.
This is the result of neglecting preparation — a textbook case of reaping what you sow.
Jigou jitoku is rooted in the Buddhist concept of karma (業, gyou or karma in Japanese), which entered Japan with Buddhism in the 6th century. The idea that actions generate corresponding consequences — not as divine punishment but as natural cause and effect — became deeply embedded in Japanese ethical thinking. Unlike Western concepts of punishment by an external authority, jigou jitoku frames consequences as inherent in the action itself: the seed contains its own fruit.
In modern Japanese, jigou jitoku appears frequently in tabloid commentary, social media discussions of celebrity scandals, and casual workplace conversation. It often carries a tone of mild social enforcement: when a public figure is caught in a scandal that stems from long-standing bad behavior, commentators reach for jigou jitoku to frame the outcome as inevitable rather than surprising. This reflects a cultural preference for seeing misfortune as structured and comprehensible — the result of choices — rather than random bad luck.
Disclosure: This site may contain affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.