Who doesn’t like a good proverb? Proverbs try to say a general truth in a concise, interesting manner.
The following are well-known Japanese proverbs friends of ours shared with us.
Even monkeys fall from trees. 
Unless you go inside the cave, you can’t catch the tiger.
Time, like light and shadow, flies like an arrow.
A nail that stands up will be pounded down.
Hardship will tell you who your true friend is.
[Sharing good ideas with the unappreciative is] like putting a gold coin in front of a cat.
[An unexpected blessing is] like a rice cake that falls down from a shelf.
Friends from Japan also explained a series of sentences used to illustrate how to develop a theme:
Osaka main town
Daughters of a textile shop. The older daughter is seventeen. The younger is fifteen.
A daimyo’s samurai kills by a bow. [New information that isn’t obviously connected.]
The daughters kill men by their eyes. [The wrap-up that brings the disparate parts together.]
Here are some additional Japanese proverbs from other sources.
Death and birth happen in the same day—life is like bubbles on a stream. (Voiced by the medieval monk Chōmei in Hōjōki)
Excessive affection turns into a hatred stronger by one hundred. 
Proof is more effective than argument.
Too many captains run the ship up a mountain. (a favorite)
Photo of the monkey by Vishu Gowda on Unsplash
Photo of bubbles on a stream by Ashwini Chaudhary on Unsplash