Where does “一寸先は闇” come from?

一寸先は闇 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 一, from Japanese 始め, from Japanese 始める — begin; start; initiate; originate.

一寸先は闇 (Japanese): unpredictable; no one knows what the future holds

Definitions

  1. unpredictable; no one knows what the future holds

Ancestry of “一寸先は闇”, step by step

一寸先は闇 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 一

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese一one, 1; "term relating to the number one"; unity
2Japanese始めbeginning, the start of an activity or time...
3Japanese始めるbegin; start; initiate; originate

via Japanese 寸

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese寸"sun"
2Middle Chinese寸—

via Japanese 闇

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese闇the dark, darkness; darkness, the dark; a dark...
2Middle Chinese闇—
Every word from Japanese 始める →Every word from Japanese 始め →Every word from Japanese 一 →