Easy-to-remember, positive four-character idioms for elementary school kids! Words that brighten the heart
Do you ever find it hard to put your positive, upbeat feelings into words? Four-character idioms are full of expressions that convey encouragement and hope.
Especially for elementary school students, it’s a great chance to learn the meanings of tricky kanji while finding idioms that can boost your own spirits and those of your friends.
In this article, we’ll introduce positive four-character idioms that elementary schoolers can use in everyday life, along with easy-to-understand example sentences.
We hope you find words that truly resonate with your heart!
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Easy-to-remember, positive four-character idioms for elementary school kids! Uplifting words (61–70)
stubborn to the core
This four-character idiom expresses sticking to a decision, idea, or belief to the very end without listening to other people’s opinions.
“Stubborn” can carry a negative impression of being inflexible, and the idiom is sometimes used with that nuance as well.
It’s interesting that it carries both a positive image of staying true to one’s convictions and a negative one.
It feels like a word that directly conveys the strength of will to charge ahead in your own way.
Say what you mean, do what you say.4
It’s a phrase often used to boost motivation by declaring your goals, with the idea that you absolutely follow through on what you say you’ll do.
It’s a playful twist on the original expression “fugen jikkō” (silent execution), which means to act without saying anything, and it is said to have become widely known through Hiromitsu Ochiai’s use of it.
It conveys the importance of putting goals into words and how doing so solidifies your resolve to push forward.
By clearly expressing your goals in words, you may also start to see the path for how to move ahead.
a serious match4
This four-character idiom expresses giving something your all and tackling it with true seriousness; it conveys the determination to seize your goal.
Originally, it referred to fighting with real swords and risking one’s life, but from the sense of “a life-or-death exchange,” it came to be used as a phrase that expresses moving forward with firm resolve.
Because it involves a contest with real swords, one might picture interactions between people, but it’s used for all kinds of goals.
Rather than meaning to defeat a goal, it reads more as an expression of one’s stance—of setting one’s own resolve.
Independence and self-reliance4
It’s a phrase that expresses the stance of acting on your own judgment and strength without interference from others or outside forces, and taking responsibility for it.
It strongly conveys the idea of holding firmly to yourself and pushing forward.
It also expresses the strength to carry things out by your own power rather than relying on those around you, in order to stick to your own way of thinking.
It feels like words that teach you what’s necessary to live true to yourself, carrying a strong, determined will.
giving it your all5
In baseball, when a pitcher throws the ball with all their strength, it’s called “zenryoku-tōkyū,” meaning a full-power pitch.
In other words, it means facing something by using all of your strength.
Don’t you also have moments when you need to give it your all? For example, before a sports match or a test.
You cut back on time for games or videos to practice or study, right? When we see that kind of dedication, we say, “That’s zenryoku-tōkyū.” Putting your whole heart into something and aiming higher is truly wonderful.
Stay true to your original intention.5
If you have goals and are working hard, be sure to remember this phrase.
Seeing through what you decided at the beginning to the very end—that is shoshi-kantetsu (carrying out one’s original intention).
If you’ve decided, “I’ll be top of the class on the test!” or “I’ll become a baseball player!”, then follow through to the end! When you feel you’re not getting closer to your goal, you might be tempted to just give up.
In moments when you feel like you’re about to lose to yourself, recall the four-character idiom shoshi-kantetsu and take a moment to reconsider why you’re pursuing that goal in the first place.
Grand unity5
This is a four-character idiom that means different groups or parties overcome their differences, join forces, and unite for a common purpose.
Because of the Daidō Danketsu (Great Unity) movement in mid-Meiji Japan, the term also carries a strong political nuance.
Still, the idea of a large number of people advancing toward a goal conveys a sense of strength.
Moving forward together toward a major objective also entails seeking understanding from those around you, and within this brief phrase you can feel the resolve to win their acceptance.
Since the word presupposes many people combining their strength, it clearly conveys the sense of striving toward a grand ideal.


