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The phrase "Unable to see the forest for the trees" implies one is too
entangled in a situation to understand what is transpiring from a larger
context, and thus, unable to determine the correct course of action.

I'd like to know whether a native Japanese hearer: 1\. told this phrase in
Japanese would interpret it to have the same meaning? 2\. would accept the
word 森 to mean a very large amount of information?
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2011-06-08T16:54:51.587
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usage translation business-japanese culture
Does the (USA) English metaphor "Unable to see the forest for the trees" keep its meaning if translated verbatim into Japanese?
I would say yes, but I'm not native. (><;

<http://www.ymknu200719.com/kotowaza/koto-ki-0026.html>
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2011-06-08T22:30:44.803
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I've seen somewhere a saying (Confucian?), like "looking but not seeing,
hearing but not listening". I want to say it's something like
「見るといえども視ず、聞くといえども聴かず」, although I can't for the life of me find it right now.
But maybe the first part could kind of be applicable.
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2011-06-08T23:26:56.507
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In my 故事ことわざ辞典、「木を見て森を見ず」 is from English phrase "You cannot see the woods for
the trees".

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/YBmAR.png)

And regarding plural form, 「木」 can mean many trees in Japanese, since Japanese
grammar does not always have plural form.

And also In 国語辞典、explanation of 「木を見て森を見ず」 is

> 一本一本の木に目を奪われて全体の森を見ない意から

using 一本一本の木, which means each tree instead of 一本の木 (one tree).

So, 「木を見て森を見ず」 might be verbatim translation of "Unable to see the forest for
the trees" in Japanese.
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2011-06-10T12:00:12.520
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