Recommended for elementary school class goals! A collection of impactful ideas using four-character idioms
A key to building a bright, positive class is how you choose the four-character idioms that serve as your goals.
Time-honored phrases carry deep meanings—for example, “Nisshin-geppo” (steady daily and monthly progress) expresses the wish for children’s growth, and “Ichigo-ichie” (treasuring each unique encounter) emphasizes valuing every meeting.
By incorporating four-character idioms, your class goals can be transformed into something wonderful that highlights the class’s individuality.
In this article, we introduce four-character idioms that are perfect for elementary school class goals.
We also explain each phrase’s meaning, origin, and usage in an easy-to-understand way, so please use it as a reference.
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Recommended for elementary school class goals! A collection of impactful four-character idioms (11–20)
Once-in-a-lifetime encounter
The four-character idiom “ichigo ichie” carries the meaning of cherishing the special, once-in-a-lifetime moment at hand, and is rooted in the teachings of the tea master Sen no Rikyū.
Through the words of Rikyū’s disciple Yamanoue Sōji, the phrase spread in the Edo period when the tea master Ii Naosuke recorded it as “ichigo ichie” in his collection Tea Gatherings: Once-in-a-Lifetime Meetings.
“Ichigo” means “a lifetime,” and “ichie” means “a single tea gathering.” It’s a beautiful saying that encourages both the host and the guests of a tea gathering to approach the occasion with wholehearted sincerity, as if it were a once-in-a-lifetime moment.
steady progress day by day; making rapid strides
It’s a four-character idiom that expresses continuous, unbroken, and rapid progress—a phrase that conveys a strong sense of growth.
It’s said that “month” and “step” were added to “daily advance” (nisshin) to supplement its meaning, forming this word.
People often think it describes slow, gradual growth, but that’s incorrect; if anything, it’s used to express rapid growth.
Because it’s frequently used when one is impressed by growth or development, the term carries a strongly positive nuance.
friendly rivalry; mutual improvement through competitionNEW!
This is a four-character idiom that expresses working together with friends and mutually improving one another.
For example, when studying math, if you and your friends quiz each other and teach one another, both you and your friends will get better and better.
In sports practice, having teammates who strive alongside you helps you run faster or throw a ball more skillfully.
And when practicing the piano, hearing a rival’s performance and feeling motivated to do your best is also the spirit of “sessatakuma.” It’s a wonderful phrase you can use when you grow by helping one another with your friends or teammates.
Indomitable; unyielding (literally: ‘unbent by a hundred setbacks’)NEW!
It means to keep trying without giving up, no matter how many times you fail.
For example, even if you mess up many times at jump rope, you practice until you can finish it, or if you get a difficult math problem wrong, you keep challenging it without giving up—that’s “hyakusetsu-futō” (unyielding despite a hundred setbacks).
It’s the same when drawing: even if it doesn’t come out as you imagined, you redo it over and over until it’s complete.
By persevering without losing heart after failures, you gradually improve and become able to do new things.
This upbeat and encouraging four-character idiom teaches the importance of continuing to work hard with a strong will.
simplicity and fortitudeNEW!
This is a four-character idiom that means “to be unadorned and have a solid mind and body.” For example, diligently doing your homework every day and studying, or strengthening your body through exercise and playing outside, are examples of shitsu-jitsu-gō-ken (sobriety and sturdiness).
It means valuing being strong in both mind and body and doing what is right over decorating your appearance.
Also, even if you have a quarrel with a friend, calmly talking things through correctly shows the spirit of shitsu-jitsu-gō-ken.
It is a very important phrase that teaches us, in our daily lives, to make energetic efforts and to nurture our minds and bodies straight and true.
Limit BreakNEW!
When you’re working hard at something and hit a wall, you become aware of your limits, don’t you? If you can’t break through with your current ability, the only option is to take a bigger leap and challenge it again.
That’s what it means to surpass your limits.
Put simply, it’s about not setting a finish line for your own strength and aiming to become even stronger and cooler! If you like games, you might think of it as leveling up.
All of you elementary school students are still growing and full of potential.
When you hit a wall, think of it as a chance and bring out your abilities and charm to the fullest!
Recommended for elementary school class goals! A collection of inspiring four-character idiom ideas (21–30)
A single smile is worth a thousand gold pieces.
Isshou Senkin is a beautiful four-character idiom meaning “a single smile or laugh is worth a thousand pieces of gold.” It teaches us that a heartfelt smile makes people happier than expensive things or money.
A smile that cheers up a friend, or a small laugh that soothes a family, has the power to brighten the atmosphere around us.
Valuing smiles in everyday life also helps us build good relationships with many people.
It’s easy to remember and conveys the importance of feelings.
It’s one of the four-character idioms I especially recommend for families with elementary school children.
