1.
enemies in the same boat; rivals cooperating
Bitter enemies or rivals who are forced to work together toward a common goal; adversaries who must cooperate due to circumstances.
競合会社と呉越同舟でプロジェクトを進めることになった。
We ended up working on the project with our rival company.
政治の世界では呉越同舟はよくあることだ。
In politics, enemies working together is common.
利害が一致したため、呉越同舟で協力することになった。
Because our interests aligned, we ended up cooperating despite being rivals.
ORIGIN: This idiom comes from the ancient Chinese military text 『孫子』 (The Art of War). The states of 呉 (Wu) and 越 (Yue) were bitter enemies, but if people from both states were on the same boat during a storm, they would have to cooperate to survive.
STRUCTURE: 呉 (Wu state) + 越 (Yue state) + 同 (same) + 舟 (boat)
USAGE: Used to describe situations where rivals or enemies must set aside their differences and work together. Common in business, politics, and sports contexts.
COMMON PATTERNS:
- 呉越同舟で協力する (to cooperate despite being rivals)
- 呉越同舟の関係 (a relationship of rivals forced to cooperate)
RELATED EXPRESSIONS:
- 敵も味方も{なく|} (setting aside friend or foe)
- 大同団結 (uniting for a common cause)